National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Louisville 73, Notre Dame 57
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 9, 2013
Where: KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky
Officials: # Tim Clougherty, # Pat Driscoll, # Michael Stephens
Attendance: 22815

No. 6 Louisville 73, No. 24 Notre Dame 57: Gorgui Dieng posted his ninth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Cardinals clinched a share of the Big East regular-season title.

Peyton Siva added 13 points and Luke Hancock chipped in with 10 for Louisville (26-5, 14-4 Big East), which avenged its only loss over the last 11 games – a 104-101 five-overtime thriller on Feb. 9 – and secured the No. 2 seed in next week’s Big East tournament. The Cardinals finished in a three-way tie atop the conference following wins by Georgetown and Marquette earlier Saturday.

Garrick Sherman, one of the unlikely stars in the Irish’s earlier victory over Louisville, came off the bench and led Notre Dame (23-8, 11-7) with 14 points. Pat Connaughton tallied 13 points and was the only other player to finish in double figures.

The Cardinals rolled to a 10-point advantage at the break on the strength of 66.7 percent shooting from the floor and stretched the lead to 13 points early in the second half on a jumper from Dieng. Sherman scored four points during an 11-3 run to pull Notre Dame within 45-40.

However, the Irish managed only one field goal over a 6:42 stretch and Dieng scored nine points during a 21-9 spurt to leave Louisville with a 66-49 cushion with 3:26 remaining. The Cardinals shot 51 percent from the field for the game – the first in nine contests they shot better than 50 percent.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The victory by Louisville in regulation snapped a three-game overtime streak in this series. … Notre Dame enjoyed a plus-44 rebounding margin over its last four games, but was outrebounded 32-31 in this contest, closing the gap considerably late in the game. … Dieng averaged 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in his two games against the Irish.
Top Game Performances
 
Notre Dame   Louisville
Garrick Sherman 14 Scoring Gorgui Dieng 20
Jerian Grant 7 Assists Peyton Siva 5
Pat Connaughton 7 Rebounds Gorgui Dieng 11
Jerian Grant 3 Free Throws Made Gorgui Dieng 4
Eric Atkins 1 Steals Gorgui Dieng 3
Garrick Sherman 2 Blocks Gorgui Dieng 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Notre Dame 57 39.3 5-19 8-12 15 27 5 4 11
Louisville 73 51.0 6-17 15-19 17 31 6 8 10