Notre Dame's feel-good game vs. Louisville gives it a reminder of what this season should've been

Notre Dame needed a game like this. Forty minutes where the weight of a season that has traveled an ocean away from preseason expectations didn’t sit on the Irish’s shoulders like a cinderblock. Two halves where the Irish resembled the efficient, hard-to-guard offense they were supposed to be all year and played with energy on defense. One day where it all looked effortless.

Saturday afternoon was that – finally.

The Irish dusted Louisville 76-62, beating the ACC’s last-place squad that’s on a seemingly irreversible course toward the title of worst team in league history. It’s hardly cause for extended celebration or a memory-maker. The Irish are still 10-12 and 2-9 in the ACC, alone in 13th place. But even for a couple hours, it just felt good.

Been a while.

“We certainly needed it,” head coach Mike Brey said.

PROMOTION: Join for only $29.99 to unlock premium access of the best Notre Dame coverage in the market. This is a limited-time offer, so act fast!

You could see it too. In guard JJ Starling’s dentist office brochure smile during a postgame on-court interview. In Brey, teary-eyed as he left the floor not two weeks earlier, cracking a smile as he exited Saturday arm-in-arm with forward Nate Laszewski. Even in a grin from first-year assistant Hamlet Tibbs, whose next chapter in coaching might start way sooner than he imagined when he and his wife moved to South Bend in August two days after their wedding.

Notre Dame led for nearly 38 minutes. The Irish trailed 9-7 against the ACC’s cellar dweller and decided enough was enough. They made seven of their next eight shots, stretching their lead to 25-13, and went up 46-24 at halftime. Starling was the catalyst, scoring 16 of his game-high 22 points before the break. The Irish led by as many as 30 in the second half.

“I had to double-take a couple times,” Brey said.

Notre Dame needed an opponent like this.

Saturday afternoon was a reminder that, yes, it could be worse. Way worse. Louisville, a program with three national titles in a basketball-mad state that’s the biggest show in town, is now 2-19 and 0-10 in the ACC. The Cardinals have lost all 15 games they have played against teams from high-major conferences, 13 of them by at least 10 points.

It wasn’t hard to see why. Louisville coughed up the ball 12 times against a Notre Dame defense that has the fourth-lowest forced turnover rate in the country. Among the giveaways were a pass thrown to 6-foot-8, 270-pound forward Sydney Curry’s feet and another intended for an unguarded defender on the wing that instead found a teammate seated on the bench. Defensive attention and resistance were scattershot.

The Irish had to make this happen, though. Louisville, filled to the brim with desperate energy, wasn’t going to hand them anything. The Cardinals led by 12 points in the first half Wednesday at Boston College in an eventual 75-65 loss.

Notre Dame put them out of reach with the efficiency expected but not delivered often enough from its offense. The Irish had 16 assists and just 3 turnovers. They shot 51.4 percent in the first half with 7 3-pointers and didn’t give the ball away until 13 minutes remained in the game.

“That’s Notre Dame right there,” guard Cormac Ryan said. “We got a win in our fashion. A good feeling.”

Notre Dame needed an individual performance like this. Specifically from Starling, the freshman tabbed as a crucial piece to this year’s puzzle before he even stepped on campus. He has, largely, looked the part of a former five-star recruit, even if he’s not quite the distributor that Blake Wesley was for last year’s team.

Saturday was a display of his off-the-dribble skills and finishing, as well as a sign of defensive growth. It was further confirmation that retaining him for 2023-24 would be a bigger recruiting win for Brey’s successor than anyone he can add to next year’s roster add via the transfer portal or high school ranks.

𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝙹𝙹'𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍, 𝚠𝚎'𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝 🌎

the rookie is 4-for-4 from the floor!#GoIrish | ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/d7v9iHCcHy

— Notre Dame Men's Basketball (@NDmbb) January 28, 2023

Nothing about Saturday changes where this season has sent the program. The Irish are still tracking toward a Tuesday game in the ACC tournament and are way past the point of no return for March Madness. Notre Dame and Brey already decided a change in leadership will happen at season’s end. In the big picture, this year remains a calamity given the lofty goals the Irish leaned into.

But those expectations are why Irish players didn’t see a 30-point lead and feel like they had arrived. This is what it should have looked like more often this season, a reality lost on no one.

“I wouldn’t say we’re surprised,” Ryan said. “We never lost faith in this group. We all know what we’re capable of.

“We looked at the scoreboard, and it wasn’t like we’re happy to be here. This is where we should be and know we can be.”

And where they’ll keep trying to be.

Brey’s inspiration for his postgame message came from watching the NBA Friday night. It wasn’t a game that struck him. It was the ticker at the bottom of the TV screen that dove deep into team trends and illustrated how severe the ups and downs can be during a season. He and Notre Dame still believe there’s an upswing coming, even if it might not be of much March consequence.

“I said, fellas, you guys follow the NBA,” Brey said. “I know our season isn’t as long, but those swings are crazy, and you never know when they’re going to happen. Let’s see if we can get into one of those swings back up.”

In other words, Notre Dame wants more games like this.