Notre Dame vs Louisville Preview
Tonight at 9PM in Madison Square Garden, the fourth ranked Cardinals of Louisville will play the resurgent 24th ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame for a crack at the Big East championship.
Tonight will be the third time Notre Dame and Louisville will go head to head in the Big East tournament. The Cardinals have won both previous meetings, including a 64-50 win over the Irish in last year's semifinals.
The Irish and Cardinals split this year's series 1-1 with Notre Dame winning a five overtime thriller over head coach Rick Pitino 104-101 in South Bend, and Louisville returning the favor with a 73-57 drubbing of Notre Dame last Saturday.
Louisville since their five overtime loss against the Irish have won every game since. The defending Big East champions and Final Four representative have won eight straight, winning by double digits in all but one of those games (A 58-53 win over Syracuse March 2).
The Irish will have to contain an emotionally charged Russ Smith, who scored 28 points against Villanova following the loss of his high school coach Jack Curran either late Wednesday or Thursday morning according to Yahoo!
Smith, a Brooklyn native, will be playing under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden again tonight as he looks to lead the Cardinals over an Irish team that soundly defeated #12 ranked Marquette 73-65 last night.
Louisville held Notre Dame's leading scorer Jerian Grant to only eight points and 2-of-12 shooting last Saturday. But Grant has bounced back since then, scoring 18 points in Notre Dame's win over Marquette.
The wild card in tonight's matchup will be Notre Dame guard and three point leader Pat Connaughton. In his last three games, Connaughton is 60 percent from three point country including a 21-point effort on 7-of-10 shooting and 6-of-8 from behind the arc in Notre Dame's 69-61 win over Rutgers on Wednesday.
Louisville however held Connaughton to 13 points and only 40 percent from behind the line. The Cardinals must keep Connaughton in check throughout the evening knowing that he's been Notre Dame's most consistent shooter the last few games.
For Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, it is his chance to prove that he can win a big game. He's knocked off Pitino's Cardinals once already this season, but following their blowout loss at the KFC Yum! Center, the doubters have returned questioning the legitimacy of this embattled Big East program that has been prone to underachieving in the postseason.
Tonight will be the third time Notre Dame and Louisville will go head to head in the Big East tournament. The Cardinals have won both previous meetings, including a 64-50 win over the Irish in last year's semifinals.
Both teams will leave the Big East following this season for the ACC, so tonight's game is not just for a chance at the Big East title, it's for bragging rights.
It's the Irish and Cardinals for a chance to play either Georgetown or Syracuse at MSG for the Big East championship.
Will Louisville put their foot down on the Irish? Or will Brey march his sons onward to victory? Tonight will be an incredible night of basketball in the "Big Apple".
Tonight will be the third time Notre Dame and Louisville will go head to head in the Big East tournament. The Cardinals have won both previous meetings, including a 64-50 win over the Irish in last year's semifinals.
The Irish and Cardinals split this year's series 1-1 with Notre Dame winning a five overtime thriller over head coach Rick Pitino 104-101 in South Bend, and Louisville returning the favor with a 73-57 drubbing of Notre Dame last Saturday.
Louisville since their five overtime loss against the Irish have won every game since. The defending Big East champions and Final Four representative have won eight straight, winning by double digits in all but one of those games (A 58-53 win over Syracuse March 2).
 |
| Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated |
Smith, a Brooklyn native, will be playing under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden again tonight as he looks to lead the Cardinals over an Irish team that soundly defeated #12 ranked Marquette 73-65 last night.
Louisville held Notre Dame's leading scorer Jerian Grant to only eight points and 2-of-12 shooting last Saturday. But Grant has bounced back since then, scoring 18 points in Notre Dame's win over Marquette.
The wild card in tonight's matchup will be Notre Dame guard and three point leader Pat Connaughton. In his last three games, Connaughton is 60 percent from three point country including a 21-point effort on 7-of-10 shooting and 6-of-8 from behind the arc in Notre Dame's 69-61 win over Rutgers on Wednesday.
Louisville however held Connaughton to 13 points and only 40 percent from behind the line. The Cardinals must keep Connaughton in check throughout the evening knowing that he's been Notre Dame's most consistent shooter the last few games.
For Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, it is his chance to prove that he can win a big game. He's knocked off Pitino's Cardinals once already this season, but following their blowout loss at the KFC Yum! Center, the doubters have returned questioning the legitimacy of this embattled Big East program that has been prone to underachieving in the postseason.
Tonight will be the third time Notre Dame and Louisville will go head to head in the Big East tournament. The Cardinals have won both previous meetings, including a 64-50 win over the Irish in last year's semifinals.
Both teams will leave the Big East following this season for the ACC, so tonight's game is not just for a chance at the Big East title, it's for bragging rights.
It's the Irish and Cardinals for a chance to play either Georgetown or Syracuse at MSG for the Big East championship.
Will Louisville put their foot down on the Irish? Or will Brey march his sons onward to victory? Tonight will be an incredible night of basketball in the "Big Apple".
Comments
Post a Comment