Louisville basketball: 3 bold predictions for Cards vs. Notre Dame

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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 13: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals and Juwan Durham #11 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish compete for the ball during their game in the second round of the 2019 Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 13, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Louisville’s defense holds Notre Dame below 65 Points

One of the strengths of this Cardinal team is their ability to make it extremely difficult for their opponents to score. They are allowing 61 PPG to their opponents, which ranks 24th nationally.

After two disappointing performances on the defensive end in back-to-back games, Louisville got back to playing elite-level defense in the win over Miami, limiting the Hurricanes to 58 points on just 27.9% shooting from the field. The Cards held junior point guard Chris Lykes to just four of 16 from the floor, as Chris Mack’s pack-line defense made it difficult for the speedy guard to penetrate and kick or create for himself.

For Notre Dame to come out victorious, they’ll need to shoot lights out from the field, especially from behind the arc. That’ll be a challenge, considering Louisville ranks 32nd in the country allowing just 28% from three, while Notre Dame struggles from deep, shooting just 34% which ranks 98th nationally.

“Offensively, they do a very good job of being diligent with the ball and getting it in the right spots,” Mack said when discussing Notre Dame. “They post up Mooney when they can. They shoot an awful lot of threes,” Mack said when previewing the Irish ahead of Saturday’s match-up.

Although containing Mooney will be priority number one, sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb is no slouch either. Hubb put up 24 points and knocked down four three-pointers in the loss in Raleigh on Wednesday. Darius Perry, Fresh Kimble or whichever guard is assigned to Hubb must make him put the ball on the floor first, as he shoots nearly 40 percent from downtown.

Another key statistic regarding the Irish’s offense vs the Cards’ defense is Notre Dame’s effective FG percentage (50.5 percent), which ranks 132nd in the nation. On the flip side, Louisville’s opponents’ effective FG percentage is 42.4 percent, which ranks 9th nationally. If Chris Mack’s squad can force the Irish into difficult shots and turnovers, they should have a good chance of getting a road win in South Bend.

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