Louisville basketball looking to build momentum vs. Notre Dame

Contain John Mooney

Mooney is a beast who can score in a variety of ways around the rim. If Louisville doesn’t bring max intensity on the glass collectively there’s a chance that Notre Dame could burn them.

If Louisville can keep Mooney in the 12 and 10 range, I think that’s a sign that the game was won pretty handily.

Win bench scoring

As we just discussed, Notre Dame is not a deep team but they do score a lot of points off their bench behind Nate Laswzewski and sophomore guard Dane Goodwin. Between the two players, the averages total to 18.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game, and if Louisville’s bench doesn’t come to play, their could be a big swing in the game when those guys come in.

Notre Dame is not a very athletic or long team that favors players like David Johnson, Malik Williams, and Samuell Williamson which is why I believe that if Louisville can come close to matching collectively what Goodwin and Laszewski will provide, they should be in great shape.

Attack the bigs

Notre Dame has three players over in the frontcourt over 6’8 and that’s it, which means that Louisville has an opportunity to use their size to their advantage. We’ve seen this before, actually on several occasions, this season. Louisville has a size advantage with Enoch, Williams, Nwora, and Sutton and somehow can’t find a way to take advantage of it.

On Saturday, getting the ball into the paint should be of the utmost importance all with the goal of drawing fouls and getting to the line. Juwan Durham is a shot-blocker who has a tendency to pick up ticky-tack calls, while Mooney is a big burly guy who doesn’t hold much of a speed advantage.

If Louisville get the ball to Enoch and Williams and truly play inside out basketball, there’s a big opportunity to get Notre Dame into foul trouble. If Mooney or Durham has to go out, that puts a ton of pressure on sophomore Nate Lesweski to play inside – which is not a strength of his.

It’s all about mentality. If Louisville settles for three’s it gives Notre Dame’s bigs the ability to stay on the floor longer and play their way. If Louisville attacks, drawing on fouls on the bigs could and would significantly change the outcome of the game.

Prediction:

Jacob Lane – Louisville 79, Notre Dame 61

• Samuell Williamson finally has his break out game
• John Mooney is held to under 15 points and 12 rebounds
• Jordan Nwora scores 25-plus

Presley Meyer- Louisville 86, Notre Dame 76

• Louisville is off early from deep, but hangs around by crashing the offensive glass
• Malik Williams gets back into his groove at center
• Ryan McMahon hits 3+ threes