Notre Dame and Louisville, once proud but now humbled, meet at an impasse

One of the ACC’s longest-tenured head coaches and its newest held similar press conferences less than 24 hours apart. Thursday at Notre Dame, Mike Brey offered the usual refrain about the search for confidence and momentum. The Irish fought – again – in an 85-82 loss at North Carolina State Tuesday. They came up a little short – again.

“We showed some resolve down there the other night, but couldn’t get over the hump,” Brey said. “It would be nice if we can get a win and ride it through bye week.”

Wednesday night in New England, Louisville first-year coach Kenny Payne answered for another loss in a debut season that has turned into a disaster of epic proportions. The Cardinals, now 2-18, blew a 12-point first-half lead in a 75-65 loss to Boston College. Payne knew his first Louisville outfit wouldn’t be a particularly potent team. But even he didn’t imagine this.

“We’re never going to be the most talented team of anyone we play,” Payne said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t win.”

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Notre Dame and Louisville, two pillars of the ACC’s mid-2010s success and the final years of the old Big East, meet Saturday in South Bend (noon ET, ESPN2). But instead of facing each other with numbers next to their names or in a key game for tournament résumé purposes, they’ll meet with a combined league record of 1-18. The stakes? Who can stay out of the cellar in an ACC that’s a shell of its old self.

Louisville, with a win, will notch its first ACC victory and won’t be alone in last place. Notre Dame, currently tied for 13th, can snap a four-game skid with a victory. Whatever the result, it will be a blip on the national radar.

This is the opposite of what Notre Dame envisioned after its two NCAA tournament wins and 15-5 ACC record a year ago. The Irish are 9-12 and 1-9 in the league, a descent steep enough to usher in a change in leadership. Brey will step aside after the season, ending his 23-year run.

Louisville, meanwhile, is ranked No. 301 at KenPom. It’s on pace to be one of the worst high-major teams in recent memory and set a school record for losses. It might be the worst in the history of the ACC. This year’s Cardinals are putting together a contender for the most ignominious season by any team with multiple national titles.

Payne took over a team that floundered down the stretch last season after head coach Chris Mack resigned in January. Nobody predicted an immediate return to prominence, but this is still Louisville. There are winning expectations every year.

That backdrop for Saturday’s game makes the five-overtime storybook these two teams wrote feel like 100 years ago, not 10. That was the highlight of many great battles between Brey and Rick Pitino. Notre Dame beat the Cardinals 104-101 on Feb. 9, 2013 in Purcell Pavilion, a victory that moved the Irish to 19-5. They finished the regular season 23-8 and earned a No. 7 seed in the tournament. Louisville never lost again that year and cut down nets on a Monday night in April.

“So that was 10 years ago,” Brey said, a bit of incredulity in his voice.

Now? Pitino is attempting a comeback from exile at Iona, Brey is on the way out and the two teams are a combined 0-3 against perennial ACC pauper Boston College.

“They have something I wish we had a little more of – toughness,” Payne said of the Eagles.

That kind of year for both programs.

“God, we’re both playing for our lives, no question about it,” Brey said.

It doesn’t exactly make for a compelling game like the ones these two used to produce with regularity. Saturday’s tilt will likely be played to the soundtrack of squeaking shoes and yelling coaches instead of a pulsing arena that erupts with every made home-team shot.

Brey recently came across some highlights of that five-overtime thriller. It really was 10 years ago.

“I don’t think,” he said, “it’s going to be like that Saturday.”

Notre Dame (9-12, 1-9 ACC) at Louisville (2-18, 0-9)

When: Saturday, Jan. 28 at noon ET

Where: Purcell Pavilion

TV: ESPN2

Radio: Notre Dame radio network

Last meeting: Notre Dame won 63-57 on Feb. 9, 2022

Series history: Louisville leads 26-17

Leading scorers:

• Louisville: guard El Ellis (17.8 ppg), guard Mike James (9.3 ppg)

• Notre Dame: forward Nate Laszewski (13.8 pgg), guard Dane Goodwin (12.1 ppg)