Two championship contenders play like it.
It’s been nearly seven years and 2,600 days since we’ve seen a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup without Connecticut. Tonight, it was No. 1 Notre Dame up against No. 2, unbeaten Louisville featuring two highly touted head coaches and a pair of the ACC’s top scorers in Notre Dame’s Arike Ogunbowale (22.1) and Louisville’s Asia Durr (20.9), with the Irish winning, 82-68.
It was the first time the Cardinals have appeared in such a matchup, and history wasn’t necessarily on Louisville’s side coming in with a 1-10 record all-time against top-ranked opponents. Their No. 2 ranking? The highest in program history.
To put it simply, it was a tale of two halves. Louisville looked confident and composed; not bothered to be playing in front of a sellout crowd at Purcell Pavillion. Notre Dame looked brand new out of the locker room at halftime, which proved to be enough.
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Once the Fighting Irish got going, there was no stopping them. At the hands of the reigning national champs, Louisville suffered its first loss of the 2018-19 campaign. There were a handful of factors that played into the outcome of tonight’s back-and-forth contest.
- Durr was unstoppable, especially to start the game, but she needed help. After notching 19 first-half points and finishing with 29, she didn’t have a ton of backup.
- Walz should probably teach his players how not to foul. Sarcastic or not, foul trouble killed Louisville and Notre Dame took advantage of it, finishing 29-39 from the charity stripe.
- Notre Dame’s defensive energy in the second half was a game changer. Couple that with Ogunbowale coming alive offensively and the Cardinals couldn’t quite bounce back.
- Whatever Muffett McGraw said at halftime? It worked. After 11 turnovers in the first half to just a pair for Louisville, the Fighting Irish settled in in the second half.
- Jessica Shepard’s outlet pass is legendary and she was a monster on the boards. Despite some minor foul trouble, she ended with 15 boards and seven points.
- Ogunbowale’s Mamba Mentality is for real. At one point in the second half, she scored 10 straight points and ended the night with 30. Not to mention her dagger three-pointer with 30 seconds left to put Notre Dame up 73-66.
- More on Ogunbowale: she only had four points at halftime.
- Louisville is a really tough team. They didn’t go down without a fight and it’s absolutely possible, on a neutral floor, they steal one from Notre Dame. A sneak peek of the 2019 national championship in Tampa? Very well could be.
- A No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup is entertaining with or without UConn. If you wanted an early taste of March Madness, you definitely got it tonight.
ESPN’s Adam Amin said it best: being a No.1 seed is far from a lock for any team this year. Tonight assured us of that.