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ACC Basketball: Louisville edges Notre Dame behind huge second half

By Jaquam Bodden

Mar 4, 2017; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots the ball past Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward V.J. Beachem (3) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Notre Dame 71-64. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2017; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots the ball past Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward V.J. Beachem (3) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Notre Dame 71-64. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports /
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Louisville basketball avenged their loss earlier this season against Notre Dame in South Bend.

Louisville couldn’t finish the regular season without some unfinished business, and they did that by beating Notre Dame at home. It wasn’t an easy game but the Cardinals were able to avenge their road loss in South Bend by beating the Irish, 71-64.

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The Cardinals were down 10-4 to start the game as they struggled to get a shot off. Even though they had a size advantage over Notre Dame, they still couldn’t convert on offense.

Louisville was able to storm back with the help of their bench to take a 22-20 lead with under four minutes left in the half. The bench was able to put an end to their early offensive struggles as the outscored Notre Dame 10-0.

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Louisville was able to overcome their struggles and get a lead but Notre Dame never backed down. Up 26-20, the Irish would finish the half outscoring Louisville 7-4, but still found themselves down 30-27 at halftime. Mangok Mathiang came up huge for the Cardinals as he scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first half off the bench

In the second half, Notre Dame got the lead back as they were able to outscore Louisville 9-4 to take a 36-34 lead. The Cardinals, however, would get the lead right back as Donovan Mitchell hit a three to give them a 37-36 lead. From here both teams went back and

From here both teams went back and forth as Notre Dame’s V.J. Beachem scored four straight points to give them a 40-37 lead. Quentin Snider would later hit a three to tie the game at 40 with 13:06 remaining in the game.

The seesaw battle between both teams continued as both teams would lead by as much as three points over the next five minutes. It’s something you would expect in an ACC game from two teams who are in the top three in conference standings.

With the game tied at 51 with 7:36 remaining, Louisville will go on a key 10-2 run that may have decided the victory for them. Just like Mathiang in the first half, Snider was the key player in the second half as he scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half. Louisville had the biggest lead of the second half at the time but the Fighting Irish stormed right back as Matt Farrell scored on a layup to cut the lead to two with 50 seconds remaining. Louisville answers quickly as Deng Adel hits a clutch

Louisville answered quickly as Deng Adel hit a clutch three-pointer with 39 seconds to give them a 68-63 lead. Louisville would hit free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

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The win for Louisville splits the series against the Irish and they are now the second overall seed in next week’s ACC Tournament. Mitchell led the Cardinals with 20 points and five rebounds while Snider scored 17 and Mathiang scored 18. The bench was key in this game as Louisville’s bench outscored Notre Dame’s bench 22-8. Bonzie Colson scored 20 points to lead Notre Dame.

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