Notre Dame vs. Louisville Meet In Battle Of Elites
Notre Dame (14–1, 2–0 ACC) returns to Purcell Pavilion as the No. 1 team in the country following UConn’s 68–57 road loss to Baylor. The Irish will play No. 2 ranked Louisville (14–0, 2–0 ACC), Thursday, Jan. 10, in the second matchup between top teams this season.
Notre Dame has been dominant on both sides of the ball this season, and they have done that against one of the nation’s toughest schedules. Offensively, the Irish are among the nation’s most efficient teams including posting the top field goal percentage at 52.6%.
Defensively their basic stats don’t look impressive, their opponent’s average points per game of 63.5 ranks 136th out of 351 teams. Due to an above average pace, their opponent’s points per 100 possessions is a more respectable 64th in the country. When you factor in that they have played the nation’s most prolific schedule offensively (their opponents average 101.7 points per 100 possessions), a more complete picture of their dominance appears.
Louisville is one of three remaining undefeated teams and as a result, they rank fifth in the nation in simple RPI. Their HHS Rating is slightly lower, ninth, but still among the nation’s best.
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 14–6, but the Cardinals have won both of the previous two meetings. Their last meeting was a 74–72 nail-biting Louisville win in the ACC Tournament Championship Game.
That game was dominated by starters — just eight of the 146 combined points came from bench players and all eight were from Notre Dame’s Kristina Nelson. The Irish’s Jessica Shepard led all scorers with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and her 10 rebounds were also a game-high.
Shepard has had a stellar season thus far, nearly averaging a double-double with 15.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-4 senior forward is one of five Notre Dame players averaging double-figures in scoring, and one of four with 3.1 or more assists per game.
While 83.3% of Notre Dame’s points come from their core starters, the bench is more than capable of scoring efficiently when called upon. Nine of the Irish’s 13 players are averaging over 1.0 points per scoring attempt, all of whom are in the top 30% in the country.
Louisville has utilized their depth more than the Irish. Seven players have scored 7.8 or more points per game, but the majority of the workload is shouldered by Asia Durr. Durr has averaged 20.9 points and 3.7 assists per game this season in just over 30 minutes per game.
The Cardinals are averaging 1.18 points per scoring attempt, which is fifth in the country, thanks to seven different players who are in the top 10% of eligible players.
Louisville will be out to prove a point, as many were surprised to see the undefeated Cardinals ranked behind Notre Dame in the latest AP Top-25 Poll. The game is the lone meeting scheduled between the two powerhouses, although it is possible that a rematch will take place in the ACC Tournament for the third straight season. Whichever team wins will come away with a signature win for their tournament resume.
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