Observations: Notre Dame offense explodes for season highs in win over Louisville

A 40-minute sprint broke out Saturday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. Whoever ran out of breath first, even for a minute or two, would put itself in a deep hole.

Notre Dame had the endurance to survive it.

The Irish beat Louisville 82-70 Saturday for their first win over the Cardinals since Jan. 4, 2017. It was their first victory in Louisville since 2015. They’re 12-6 overall and tied for second in the ACC at 5-2.

“That’s the first time we’ve had all seven guys playing well,” head coach Mike Brey said. “That’s our goal.”

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Freshman guard Blake Wesley scored a game-high 22 points. Senior guard Dane Goodwin and graduate student forward Paul Atkinson Jr. had 13 points each. Notre Dame shot 63.3 percent from the floor, 65.2 percent from three-point range and averaged 1.32 points per possession — all season highs.

Here are three observations from the game.

BOX SCORE

1. Surviving early Louisville onslaught

Prentiss Hubb reached his left hand as high as it could go and held it there for at least 10 seconds.

Didn’t matter.

Louisville guard Jarrod West fired away again as the final seconds dripped off the clock in the first half, ending a possession where no one else touched the ball. His three-pointer found the bottom of the net. Just like his last three. It wasn’t an open shot — just like his last three.

That about summed up the opening 20 minutes.

Louisville, which came into the game shooting just 31.3 percent on three-pointers, went 9 of 13 in the first half. There were a few open ones as a result of leaky defense. More often, though, Louisville resembled unhinged grenadiers and unloaded contested jumpers and end-of-clock prayers. In the first half, most of them snapped the nylon.

“I’m thinking, ‘I don’t think they can do that the whole game,’” Brey said.

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Sure enough, Louisville was 1 of 8 from deep in the second half. None of those attempts came from West. The Cardinals frequently tried to post up their bigger forwards and wings against Notre Dame’s smaller lineup, but the Irish held serve. They mostly played man defense after mixing man and zone in the first half.

Louisville scored 25 points and shot 42.9 percent in the second half, which was not nearly enough to keep up with Notre Dame.

2. Notre Dame sustains shooting, Blake Wesley puts it away

Louisville and Notre Dame combined to shoot 16 of 22 on threes in the first half.

One team stopped making them. The other never did. The Irish went 8 of 14 in the second half and made six of their last seven attempts. That 6-of-7 finish began with Notre Dame in a two-point hole. The final one splashed through the net to give it a 10-point advantage with 6:08 left. The lead remained in double figures the rest of the way.

Unlike Louisville’s first-half barrage, these weren’t prayers and low-percentage looks. They were open, rhythm shots off half-court actions, off drive-and-kicks and in transition. All but one was assisted.

“We got our offense really flowing and clicking,” Brey said. “We made 15 threes, and they were great looks because we were passing and moving and cutting.”

Wesley provided a pair of threes as part of a personal 9-0 run that pulled Notre Dame away. He drilled a step-back from the wing to break a 62-62 tie with 8:23 left. He made another from the opposite wing the next possession to push the lead back to four after a Louisville bucket. On the next trip down, he went coast-to-coast for an and-one layup.

He needed just 1:32 to for his latest explosion.

Wesley went 3 of 4 on threes, ending a 4-of-19 slump from the prior three games. All told, Notre Dame is shooting an ACC-best 41 percent from beyond the arc in conference play.

3. Prentiss Hubb settling in

Wesley is the alpha. Goodwin is the steady hand. Atkinson adds a reliable interior presence.

That leaves Hubb to fill in gaps and be a complement. It’s a departure from his first three years, where he rarely came off the floor and ran the offense. But it’s how this season has unfolded with his struggles and others’ emergence.

Saturday was an indication he’s leaning into it. Hubb scored 12 points, was 4 of 6 from the field and 3 of 5 on threes. He had a team-high five assists and just one turnover. He remains an engaged defender and helped shut down Louisville’s guards in the second half. He prevented an easy layup in a loose-ball situation when he stripped forward Jae’Lyn Withers right before the shot.

Hubb seems to have accepted his lower shot volume and usage. He has made his attempts count, though. After Saturday’s win, he’s shooting 39.4 percent on threes and 41.0 percent overall in conference play. His 8.1 percent turnover rate in ACC games is fifth-best in the conference. He’s averaging 4.1 assists per ACC contest.