Louisville @ Notre Dame preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 13, 2019 ) Notre Dame 53, Louisville 75

No. 11 Louisville is still evolving on the offensive end of the floor as it begins a stretch of three straight ACC road games Saturday afternoon against dangerous Notre Dame. The Cardinals snapped a two-game slide with a 74-58 victory over Miami (Fla.) on Tuesday as they held the Hurricanes to 27.9 percent shooting from the field and received 19 points from the ACC’s leading scorer Jordan Nwora.

Louisville’s overall numbers are solid as it shoots 46.9 percent from the field and a league-best 37 percent behind the 3-point arc, but coach Chris Mack would like to see more consistency in his team’s play on that end. “We have to be better offensively,” Mack told reporters after his team broke open a close game late against Miami. “We were really good in the first 15 minutes. … Why are we good in the first 15 minutes and not able to sustain it? As I suspect, it is because this team has to figure out, this is what makes us good.” Notre Dame, which has dropped four straight to the Cardinals, suffered its last three losses by a combined eight points after Wednesday’s 73-68 setback at North Carolina State, letting a 12-point lead slip away in the final 15 minutes. The Fighting Irish boast one of the nation’s best big men in senior forward John Mooney, who has strung together nine straight double-doubles and entered Friday leading the nation with 13.6 rebounds per contest.

TIME: 2 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (12-3, 3-1 ACC): Nwora (20.9 points, 7.7 rebounds) rebounded from a season-low eight points against Kentucky with 32 against Florida State in a loss last weekend and notched his fourth double-double Tuesday. Senior center Steven Enoch is the only other player averaging in double figures scoring (11.5) after recording 12 points and 10 boards versus Miami, while senior forward Dwayne Sutton leads the Cardinals with 8.8 rebounds per contest. Junior point guard Darius Perry stepped up with 10 points Tuesday - his third double-figure effort of the season and first since mid-November- and leads the team in assists (4.1).

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (10-5, 1-3): Coach Mike Brey used only six players in the loss to NC State as the Irish shot 41.9 percent from the field (1-of-11 from 3-point range) in the second half after connecting on 53.8 percent (5-of-7 behind the arc) in the opening 20 minutes. Mooney tops a balanced offense for the Irish at 15.8 points, while senior guard T.J. Gibbs is next at 13 per game after averaging 17.3 over the past three contests. Sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb averages 12.4 points overall, but 19.3 in four ACC games, and leads the team in assists (4.9) after dishing out 11 in his past two outings - including nine in the win over Syracuse last weekend.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Notre Dame senior G Rex Pflueger (4.9 points) is questionable after missing the loss to NC State with a sore knee.

2. Louisville senior G Ryan McMahon has combined to score eight points on 3-of-10 shooting while coming off the bench the last two games.

3. The Irish lead the nation in fewest fouls per game (11.9), but are 10th in the league in free throw shooting percentage (70.7).

PREDICTION: Louisville 76, Notre Dame 68