Louisville Basketball vs. Notre Dame Game Preview & Prediction
By Caleb Hall
The Louisville Cardinals will host the Notre Dame fighting Irish tomorrow night in a game between the 2 worst teams in the ACC. Notre Dame comes in at 9-16 (4-10), while Louisville comes in at 8-18 (3-12). Both teams have been struggling mightily this season, with it being Micah Shrewsberry's first season as the head coach of Notre Dame, after taking over the now retired Mike Brey.
Notre Dame's defense has been playing good mostly all season, but they have really struggled on the offensive end, as they have had a big issue putting up points in 2024. Louisville has had the other problem, as they have had no trouble putting up points (mostly) and have had a hard time playing defense.
Louisville will still be without key guard Skyy Clark and it is still up in the air whether freshman Ty-Laur Johnson will be available either. If Johnson isn't available it will be extremely difficult for Louisville to win this game, and with Notre Dame's defense it will be even more difficult.
Louisville will also need to be much better on offense in general if they want to score against the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame holds their opponents to around 65 points per game, which is much better than Louisville's 78 points allowed per game.
Louisville will need to be much more focused on offense, and that will be much more difficult without a point guard. Guys like Tre White and Kaleb Glenn will need to keep playing well, and keep playing efficiently as well if the Cardinals want a win here.
The Cardinals will also need to keep an eye on freshman guard Markus Burton who has been averaging 16 points while shooting over 40% from the field to go along with 2 steals per game.
If Louisville can stay focused on offense and at least play average (or slightly below average defense) then they should have a good shot at beating Notre Dame and moving up in the ACC standings.
I expect Louisville to play well early but Notre Dame's defense should focus in as the game goes on and the game should get tigher. If Ty-Laur Johnson plays it will change the game for Louisville and gives the Cards a much higher chance of winning.
I've giving the Cardinals the benefit of the doubt, even with the injuries at home wednesday night.