No. 13 Louisville Edges Notre Dame 90-85

[February 29, 2008]  LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- David Padgett made sure Louisville brought a little order to the jumbled mess at the top of the Big East. Padgett scored a season-high 26 points and Earl Clark added 14 points and nine rebounds as No. 13 Louisville (23-6, 13-3 Big East) survived No. 17 Notre Dame 90-85 Thursday. The Cardinals' eighth-straight victory moved them into a tie for first in the Big East with No. 11 Georgetown with two games remaining.

Luke Harangody led the Irish (21-6, 11-4) with a career-high 40 points and added a game-high 12 rebounds to post his 17th double-double of the season.

Ryan Ayers added 17 points for Notre Dame, but the Cardinals bottled up Irish guard Kyle McAlarney. One game after setting a school-record with nine 3-pointers in a win over Syracuse, McAlarney managed just seven points on 3-of-14 shooting, including 1-of-8 on 3-pointers.

Louisville never trailed and led by as much as 19 with 5:41 left. But Harangody almost single-handedly kept the Irish in it, hitting his first three 3-pointers of his career in the final minutes.

Notre Dame got as close as 86-81 on Harangody's final 3-pointer, but Edgar Sosa hit a pair of free throws as the Cardinals held on.

Terrence Williams finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Cardinals. Sosa and Andre McGee chipped in with 10 points each. Louisville shot 53 percent from the floor to overcome 20-of-32 free throw shooting.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said he thought the Cardinals could run with the Big East's highest-scoring offense, and the Cardinals did it during a dizzying first 10 minutes.

Using a fullcourt press to push the tempo, the Cardinals raced to a 34-16 lead. Louisville hit 13 of its first 18 shots, including 5-of-6 3-pointers.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, struggled. Though Harangody did his best to keep the Irish in it, scoring 12 of Notre Dame's first 14 points, the rest of the team was bottled up by Louisville's defense.

With McAlarney constantly harassed, the Irish missed their first seven 3-point attempts, not connecting until Ayers hit one with 46 seconds left in the first half. By then, Louisville led 42-27 and was on its way to its eighth consecutive victory.

[Associated Press; By WILL GRAVES]

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