No Longer Undefeated — Takeaways from No. 2 Louisville’s Loss to Notre Dame

It was the No. 1 ranked Fighting Irish’s second time taking on the No. 2 team at home this season. After falling apart in the first game, Notre Dame emerged from the second victorious and handed Louisville their first loss of the season.

The game was a battle of two of the best guards in the ACC and possibly in the country for that matter. Arike Ogunbowale (Notre Dame) and Asia Durr (Louisville) both led their respective teams in scoring. Ogunbowale finished with 30 points, Durr had 29.

Here are our takeaways from the game:

• Arike Ogunbowale had an excellent game.

Following last year’s Final Four the senior has gotten a lot of attention, but she’s been rather inconsistent so far this year. She has multiple games with shooting percentages in the low 30s, and multiple games where she’s shot 70 percent or better from the floor. Against Louisville, she demonstrated why she deserves to be placed among the best guards in the country, shooting 8–15 from the floor and 2–4 from three-point range. She also took six trips to the free throw line (where she was perfect on the night), to total 1.43 points per scoring attempt — well above her season average of 1.14 PPSA.

• Asia Durr showed her ability to create in a variety of ways.

The senior scores 37 percent of her points from beyond the arc on the season. Even as she struggled from beyond the arc against the Irish, shooting just 1–8, she still managed to put up 29 points. She did so by getting inside, shooting 67 percent from two-point range, and drawing the foul for 12 free throw attempts.

• Notre Dame was able to create an advantage on the glass.

Louisville is not a strong defensive rebounding team, ranking in the bottom 50 percent of the country in defensive rebound rate on the season. The Irish seized the opportunity, collecting 18 of their own misses, for an offensive rebound rate of 49 percent.

• Lousiville’s defense turned the Irish over 18 times and scored 25 points off those turnovers.

Heading into the game, Notre Dame turned the ball over on 16 percent of their plays so far this season. Last night they turned it over on 24 percent. If Louisville can improve their ability to defend without fouling, their defense will be a threat to every team in the country.

As this was just the start of ACC play, there is still plenty of time for these teams, and their star seniors, to grow through the remainder of the season. One thing is for sure — we hope we get a rematch in the ACC tournament.

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