Jan. 16, 2018
Notre Dame Louisville Box Score
By Robby Hamman
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — It took two extra sessions to determine the winner inside Purcell Pavilion on Tuesday night but Louisville (14-4, 4-1 ACC) managed to escape Notre Dame (13-6, 3-3 ACC) with an 82-78 victory.
In his first game back since missing three games with an ankle injury, senior Matt Farrell returned to the starting lineup scored a team-high 23 points. Fellow senior Martinas Geben also had a notable performance, finishing with a career-high 22 points and 17 rebounds. Sophomore T.J. Gibbs notched double figures in the scoring column with 12 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish built a 10-point lead at the seven-minute mark of the first half with the score 26-16. The Cardinals responded with a 14-0 run over the next six minutes of action to go on top 30-26 with under a minute left. The Irish scored the final bucket of the half to cut the deficit to two at 30-28 going into the break. Farrell had 15 of Notre Dame’s 28 points in the frame.
The Cardinals extended their lead to as many as seven points at 35-28 early in the second stanza but Notre Dame fought back to take the lead at 43-41, using a 7-0 spurt to go back on top. Louisville responded by outscoring the Irish 9-2 over the next two minutes of play to lead 50-45 with 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
After a slow start on the offensive end, Gibbs woke up and scored eight straight points for Notre Dame, canning two shots from beyond the arc and a layup to give the Irish a 53-52 advantage. The score moved to 60-60 before Louisville hit a runner with 1:15 left to put the visitors on top. With less than a minute to go Geben knocked down two free-throws to level the score at 62-62 and send the game to overtime.
The Cardinals scored the first five points of the first overtime but the Irish answered with five straight of their own to level the score at 67-67. Notre Dame took its first lead of the extra session off a dunk from Geben with 48 ticks left on the clock but Louisville once again tied the game with a jumper. Farrell couldn’t get a three-point attempt in the final seconds to fall and the contest headed to a second overtime.
The Cardinals jumped out to a five-point lead in the second overtime at 80-75. Once again, the Irish battled, as Farrell buried a three to cut the deficit to two. Unfortunately the Irish were unable to tie the game in the final minute and Louisville held on to win 82-78.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Geben was an absolute beast underneath for the Irish, as the senior big man had a career night. The Lithuanian poured in a career-high 22 points and pulled down a career-best 17 rebounds. Geben finished an impressive 10-of-13 from the field.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Irish outrebounded the lengthy Louisville lineup by a final margin of 48-34. Notre Dame has now outrebounded its opponents in five of six conference games. Geben led the way with 17 boards and Torres added six on the evening.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- The Irish and Cardinals have now played eight games that have gone at least one overtime during the Mike Brey era.
- Farrell’s 20-plus point performance was his fourth of the season and seventh of his career.
- Tuesday marked the first time Geben has scored 20-plus points in a game in his career.
- Geben’s double-double was his third of the season.
- Freshman D.J. Harvey exited the game at the 8:25 mark in the first half with an injury and did not return the rest of the evening.
- For the 10th time this season Geben finished in double figures in the scoring column, finishing with 22 points against the Cardinals.
- With 12 points, Gibbs finished with 10-plus points for the 14th time this season and seventh consecutive game.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back on the road this weekend, as they travel to Clemson to take on the Tigers at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 20. The game will air on ESPN.
— ND —
Robby Hamman joined Fighting Irish Media as athletics communications assistant director in September 2016, coordinating efforts for the volleyball and men’s lacrosse program. Hamman is a 2010 graduate of Bethel College, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in sport management and business administration, and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Defiance College in 2013.