Time: 7:01 p.m. ET
TV: ACC Network
Vegas Line: Louisville -4.5, t142.5
𝙂𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿𝘼𝙔 vs. Notre Dame
⏰: 7 p.m. ET
📺: @ACCNetwork#GoCards pic.twitter.com/w0Joi1g6Ym— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) February 23, 2021
The Louisville men’s basketball team will play at home for the first time in three weeks as Notre Dame comes to town for a Tuesday night matchup at the KFC Yum! Center. Louisville dropped to 11-5 overall and 6-4 in league play after losing by 45 on the road at North Carolina on Saturday. Notre Dame is 9-11 and 6-8.
Louisville took its largest loss since 1939 on Saturday in a 99-54 defeat at North Carolina. The team was not missing any major contributors, but it was clear that they were probably not ready after taking a 19-day break from activity due to COVID-19. North Carolina made an effort to run and play as quickly as possible. Louisville was unable to keep up and was gassed on both ends.
If you combine the first ten minutes of both halves Saturday, UNC only outscored the Cards by three points. During the final ten minutes of both halves, the combined point total was 64-22 in favor of Carolina.
We saw a similar performance from Louisville in December in its first game back from a long layoff. They responded with five straight wins after that. You can only hope that Saturday’s loss was a fluke and that this team can get back on track. The truth is, no one knows how the rest of this season will go.
Unfortunately, we still do not know who will be available on Tuesday. It appears that the team will be shorthanded once again, although we will not know for sure until about an hour before tipoff. Check @CardSportZone on Twitter around that time for an update.
There are currently four games remaining on the schedule for Louisville. Things can change depending on how the NET rankings look on Selection Sunday, but as of now the Cards do not own a win over a quadrant-1 opponent. Right now, they are probably in good shape for the tournament but are by no means safe. What they cannot do it take a bad loss. With the final three games of the year being quad-1 opportunities, Louisville just needs to find a way to win on Tuesday and buy itself some time to get healthy.
Prediction:
Louisville 64 Notre Dame 59
