Irish Fall in OT

Notre Dame took a tough loss Monday night at the hands of #20 Louisville.  The Cardinals beat the Irish 87-73 while outscoring Notre Dame 16-2 in overtime.  The Irish simply ran out of gas raising questions about whether or not they can make it through the Big East schedule with a 7 man rotation.  Here are some notes from the game.

• Luke Harangody scored 20+ for the ninth straight game becoming the first Notre Dame player to do so since Adrian Dantley did so during the 1975-76 season.  Harangody ended the game with 28 points and 13 rebounds.
• Notre Dame played just 6 players before the final minute during the 50 minute affair.  Luke Zeller was the only reserve to play prior to the bench clearing final minute.  I wonder if that may have had something to do with the Irish scoring just two points in overtime?
• Despite only playing 6 players, just 2 Notre Dame players scored in double figures.  Kyle McAlarney added 19 points to go with Harangody’s 28.  Louisville meanwhile had 4 players reach double figures.
• Notre Dame his 9 of 20 three pointers, but Zeller posted a gooseegg from beyond the arc with a 0-5 performance.  Zeller was 1-8 overall, but did record 7 rebounds.
• Notre Dame held the ball with the shot clock turned off with the game tied at 71 in the final minute, but an isolation play for Tory Jackson led the Irish PG into a wall of defenders which resulted in a backcourt violation when Jackson’s pass went flying into the Louisville zone with just under a second left.  Kyle McAlarney was 5 for 6 from three point range at that point but didn’t touch the ball.
• In a 50 minute game, Notre Dame shot just 5 free throws.  This was a combination of Notre Dame not attacking the basket and some quiet whistles from the refs.
• The Irish had 15 assists to 15 turnovers.
• Zach Hillesland attempted just 3 field attempts the entire game.  Hillesland has shown at times this year the ability to take it to the hoop, but he did not do so Monday night.
• Louisville’s Terrence Williams had a ridiculous stat line – 24 points, 16 rounds, 8 assists, 3 steals.  Wow.
• Notre Dame shot slightly better than Louisville from the field, but attempted 10 fewer field goal attempts thanks to a 16-8 offensive rebounding edge for Louisville.
• Louisville blocked 9 shots as a team and turned the ball over just 9 times.
• This loss really exploited Notre Dame’s lack of depth and gave other Big East teams a pretty good blueprint for how to beat the Irish – pressure from start to finish and wait for Notre Dame to run out of gas.  For this team to really reach its potential, Brey is going to have to use a deeper bench.