Louisville at Notre Dame preview: Cards look for first win in South Bend since '94

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (19-5, 8-3) At NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (17-7, 8-4)

Game Time: 4 p.m.

Location: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center: Notre Dame, Ind.

Television: ESPN2

Announcers: Sean McDonough (play-by-play) and Miles Simon (analyst)

Officials: Tim Clougherty, Lamont Simpson, Tim Comer

Favorite: Notre Dame by 1.5

All-Time Series: Louisville leads 20-13

Last Meeting: Louisville won 71-59 on March 4, 2015 at the KFC Yum Center

Series History:

Probable Starting Lineups:

Statistics:

Relevant Videos:

About Notre Dame:

The Fighting Irish lead the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.0), are 14th in field goal percentage (.488) and ninth in assists-to-turnovers ratio (1.57). Mike Brey also has the second highest-scoring team in the ACC, averaging 78.8 points per game in conference play.

Leading the offensive charge for the Irish is junior point guard Demetrius Jackson, a former Louisville recruit. Jackson is averaging team and career-bests in both points (16.2 ppg) and assists (5.0 apg). He combines with senior forward Zach Auguste (14.1 ppg/10.0 rpg) to form one of the best inside/outside tandems in the ACC.

Notre Dame has won five straight games at home since losing to Pitt on Jan. 9.

Notable

--Notre Dame was the only conference opponent that Louisville failed to beat on the road during the time that the two co-existed in the Big East. The Cardinals have lost five straight games at the Joyce Center, and haven't beaten the Irish on their home floor since 1994.

--The last three times (and 4 of the last 6 times) that Louisville and Notre Dame have played in South Bend, the game has wound up going to overtime.

--Overall, eight of the last 16 meetings between Louisville and Notre Dame have been decided in overtime, and three of those tilts have needed more than one extra period.

--A win will give Louisville its 14th-consecutive 20-win season. U of L is one of just four programs in Division-I to have won 20 games in each of the past 13 seasons.

--Notre Dame has the most efficient offense in the nation, according to the Pomeroy Adjusted Offensive Efficiency Index (124.8).

--Louisville leads the nation in scoring margin (+18.0), is sixth in scoring defense (60.3), seventh in field goal percentage defense (.378), 11th in rebound margin (+9.5) and 10th in offensive rebounds (14.3).

--With seven games remaining, Damion Lee needs 78 points to reach 2,000 for his career, including his three seasons at Drexel.

--Trey Lewis needs 42 points for 1,500 career points, including his time at Penn State and Cleveland State. Lee has scored in double figures in 21 of his 23 games this season while Lewis has 15 double-digit scoring efforts.

--Notre Dame leads the country in fewest turnovers per game (9.0), and only turned it over a combined seven times in their most recent two wins over North Carolina and Clemson.

--Louisville has won at least 19 games through its first 24 games for the fifth straight season. This is the third consecutive years that UofL has opened with at least eight conference wins in its first 11 league games (8-3 last season, 9-2 in 2013-14, 7-4 in 2012-13, 7-4 in 2011-12).

--Louisville has a 49-14 record (.778) in February over the last nine years (since 2007-08), winning 15 of its last 19 in the month (2-1 this year, 5-3 in 2014-15).

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Notre Dame 73, Louisville 72