Notre Dame hadn’t won three straight games since opening last season with five consecutive victories. Even though it had the ACC’s worst offense entering Wednesday, it was visiting Louisville, the team with not the only the conference’s worst defense but its worst record. The Irish took advantage of that and earned that coveted third straight win, 72-50.
Despite the weaker competition, it took a while for the Irish (10-16, 5-10) to put the Cardinals (8-19, 3-13) away. In the first half, their 13-point lead was cut to four, but a [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] layup in the last minute before halftime put them back up six. Burton finished with 16 points.
It was an eight-point game with eight minutes to go in the second half when [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] decided enough was enough and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to squash any comeback hopes for the Cardinals. It was the highlight of 23-point night in which he knocked down seven 3s, tying a program freshman record.
Even with a 14-point lead, the Irish added some extra insurance and finished the game on a 13-5 run even with [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] emptying the bench. Of course, the Cardinals helped by making only one of their final 12 shots. It was a fitting finish to a night in which they shot only 33.9% from the field.
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