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Cards face Notre Dame

Preview

With seven games remaining in its season, Louisville plays its second straight on the road as the Cardinals visit the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday.

Louisville lost for just the second time in the last eight games in falling 72-65 at Duke on Feb. 8 as Donovan Mitchell led the Cards with 17 points off the bench, hitting 7-of-11 field goals. UofL had recovered from a 15-point second-half deficit to take the lead, but could not maintain.

Notre Dame (17-7, 8-4), which was ranked in the nation’s top 25 four weeks earlier this season, won 89-83 at Clemson on Feb. 8 as Zach Auguste led all five starters in double figures with 19 points and eight rebounds.

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Louisville Cardinals (19-5, 8-3) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (17-7, 8-4)

Saturday, Feb. 13

4 p.m. ET

Purcell Pavilion at Joyce Center

Notre Dame, Ind.

Television: ESPN2 - Sean McDonough, play-by-play; Miles Simon, analyst.

Radio: WKRD (790 AM; joined in progress on WHAS, 840 AM)

Series History: UofL leads 20-13 (12-3 in Louisville, 4-7 at Notre Dame, 4-3 neutral)

Officials: Tim Clougherty, Lamont Simpson, Tim Comer

About Notre Dame

Louisville plays its second straight on the road as the Cardinals visit the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday. Notre Dame (17-7, 8-4), which was ranked in the nation’s top 25 four weeks earlier this season, won 89-83 at Clemson on Feb. 8 as Zach Auguste led all five starters in double figures with 19 points and eight rebounds.

Through Feb. 8, Notre Dame leads the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.0), is 14th in field goal percentage (.488) and ninth in assists-toturnovers ratio (1.57). Auguste is third in the ACC and 22nd nationally in rebounding (10.0) while Demetrius Jackson is the Irish’s top scorer (16.2, 12th in the ACC). Notre Dame is 24th in the RPI and 28th in the Sagarin Ratings through Feb. 9.

Louisville has a 20-13 series advantage over Notre Dame. Louisville has won two of the last three meetings, but fell 71-59 to the Irish in Louisville last season as UofL’s Montrezl Harrell totaled 23 points and 12 rebounds (3-4-15).

The Cardinals have won 15 of the last 21 against the Irish. Eight of the last 16 have been decided in overtime. Louisville was a member of the Big East Conference with Notre Dame for eight seasons (2005-13)

Coach Mike Brey has Notre Dame rolling at the right time.
Coach Mike Brey has Notre Dame rolling at the right time. (James Brosher)

Big Men Dominate for Notre Dame

In the past two victories for the Irish, the ‘big men’ on Notre Dame’s roster - Zach Auguste and Bonzie Colson - have each taken turns to dominate on the front line. At Clemson Feb. 8, Auguste exploded for 15 points on six of 10 shooting with four rebounds.

At home against #2/1 North Carolina, Colson took over the final 20 minutes with 13 points on four of six shooting along with seven rebounds (including four offensive boards).

Zach Auguste is putting together a stellar senior campaign. Averaging a career-best 14.1 points and 10.0 rebounds, Auguste has 13 ‘double-doubles’ to his credit this season and has reached the 20 and 10 plateau (20+ points, 10+ rebounds) three times this season.

Card File

*Donovan Mitchell scored 17 points at Duke -- one below his career high -- while connecting on 7-of-11 field goals and 2-of-3 three-pointers. It was his 11th double-figure scoring effort this season and third straight.

*Louisville lost the battle of the boards for just the fourth time this season at Duke (33-32).

*With seven games remaining, Damion Lee needs 78 points to reach 2,000 for his career, a figure that includes his scoring at Drexel. Trey Lewis needs 42 points to reach 1,500 for his career.

*Starting for the injured Damion Lee against Boston College, Deng Adel produced his second double-figure scoring effort in three games with 13 points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists and two steals. He missed eight games earlier this season with a sprained knee.

*UofL has a 49-16 record in conference games over the past four seasons.

*UofL’s bench scored 28 points at Duke in its last game, the 14th time this year that the bench has contributed 24 or more points/

Cardinal News & Notes

Louisville is seeking its 14th straight 20-win season. The Cardinals are one of four schools to have won 20 or more games each of the past 13 seasons.

Louisville's academic performance in the 2015 fall semester was impressive, with 13 of 15 men's basketball student-athletes achieving a 3.0 or better grade point average. The Cardinals posted acollective 3.36 GPA for the 2015 fall semester, just short of the team record of 3.47 achieved in 2013.

Louisville's 142 victories over the last five years are the second-most wins in the nation in that stretch through Feb. 8.

UofL leads the nation in scoring margin (+18.0), is sixth in scoring defense (60.3), seventh in field goal percentage defense (.378), 11th in rebound margin (+9.5) and 10th in offensive rebounds (14.3).

With seven games remaining, Damion Lee needs 78 points to reach 2,000 for his career, including his three seasons at Drexel. Trey Lewis needs 42 points for 1,500 career points, including his time at Penn State and Cleveland State. Lee has scored in double figures in 21 of his 23 games this season while Lewis has 15 double-digit scoring efforts.

Ray Spalding has averaged 7.8 points and 6.3 rebounds over the last four games off the bench, the top scorer among the UofL bigs in that stretch.

Chinanu Onuaku was honored on the CoSIDA Academic All-District team, one of four ACC players with the recognition.

UofL Self-Imposes Postseason Ban

The University of Louisville announced on Feb. 5 that the decision was made to withhold the men’s basketball program from all conference and NCAA postseason competition following the 2015-16 men’s basketball season. The decision was based upon available information gathered by the NCAA Enforcement Staff and UofL, as it was reasonable to conclude violations had occurred in the men’s basketball program in the past.

The University is continuing to cooperate with the NCAA on the resolution of the matter and will evaluate the information as the inquiry continues. Given the ongoing inquiry, and in accordance with NCAA bylaws, UofL cannot comment further at this time.

The ban will halt a string of nine consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the Cardinals. UofL will also not participate in the 2016 ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. Louisville advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in three of the last four years and the Cardinals and Michigan State are the only two schools to reach the last four consecutive NCAA Sweet Sixteens. Louisville lost in overtime to Michigan State in the East Region championship last season

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