SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-14, 5-9) fell to the Louisville Cardinals (20-6, 13-2) in Purcell Pavilion on Sunday night by the score 60-75. It was a close back-and-forth affair until 9:37 remaining when the Cards fired off a 13-2 scoring run to garner their biggest lead of the game up 18.
Sophomore guard Markus Burton recorded his 10th 20+ point performance over the last 12 games (his 12th overall on the season) with 22 points tonight on 8-18 shooting. Burton went a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe, dished out a team-best four assists, and grabbed three boards for the Irish.
He was followed by Tae Davis, who put up 15 points while shooting 4-9 from the floor and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line.
Braeden Shrewsberry knocked down four threes, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds on the night. Kebba Njie led the rebounding efforts for the Irish with seven.
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a hot start to the evening for both squads. Braeden Shrewsberry recorded three triples by 14:54 and the Irish were 4-7 from beyond the arc at the 11:33 media with an 18-15 lead.
However, the Irish then went into a minor cold spell in which they made just two of their next 13. During the early portion of said spell, the Cardinals fired off a 13-0 scoring run, grabbing their first lead of the game in the process.
Tae Davis ended the drought but minutes later was sent to the bench with three fouls. Markus Burton also had to spend some extra time on the bench due to two early fouls of his own.
Burton did sub back in late and tallied eight consecutive points to pull the Irish within four at 28-32. Yet with two seconds left on the clock, Louisville inbounded the ball from the baseline and got off a quick corner three for a 28-35 halftime advantage.
The Irish would cut the deficit down to one possession by 15:07 in the second half but Louisville settled in and recorded a 4-4 shooting stretch from the field which ballooned their lead to double digits for the first time at 44-55. At this point in time, the Irish had more turnovers than made field goals.
Three consecutive three-point plays from Louisville resulted in a 13-2 run in under three minutes, prompting a Coach Shrewsberry timeout now down 46-64.
The Irish came out of the timeout with a Mohammad and-one, but the Cardinals responded with a three-point play of their own shortly after.
A 6-0 run from the Irish cut the deficit to 12 at 67-55 with 3:18 remaining and stayed within 12 points after swapping pairs of free throws.
While Shrewsberry knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the night with just more than a minute left on the clock, the Cardinals would go on to win it 75-60. Louisville shot 56.5 percent in the second half compared to Notre Dame’s 32.0 percent.
UP NEXT
The Irish continue their homestand inside Purcell Pavilion against the top half of the conference with SMU on Wednesday, Feb. 19. That match will tip at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at FightingIrish.com.
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