ND beats Louisville 90-57 to end losing streak

[February 13, 2009]  SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Luke Harangody had 32 points and 17 rebounds and Notre Dame shot 54 percent in a 90-57 victory over No. 5 Louisville on Thursday night that ended a seven-game losing streak.

The Fighting Irish (13-10, 4-7 Big East) improved to 3-7 against ranked opponents and beat Louisville for just the second time in their last 11 meetings. The 33-point victory is the largest ever for Notre Dame against a Big East opponent. It was the second loss in three games for the Cardinals (18-5, 9-2).

The Irish were in control from the start as Louisville made just one of its first 13 shots. The Irish made eight of their first 15, going ahead 17-4 when Kyle McAlarney scored on a reverse layup. The Cardinals flustered the Irish briefly with their full-court press, but the Irish finished the half on a 13-3 run to open a 37-19 lead, then opened the second half with a 7-3 spurt.

The Irish sealed the victory a 16-2 run midway through the second half when McAlarney sandwiched two 3-pointers around one by Ryan Ayers. McAlarney added a free throw on the last one for a four-point play that gave the Irish a 68-38 lead. Harangody then added two baskets.

It was the highest ranked opponent Notre Dame has beaten since a 99-85 win over No. 4 Alabama on Dec. 7, 2006.

For the first time in more than a month the Irish looked like the team they were expected to be when they rose as high as No. 7 in the rankings. They dived for loose balls, outhustled the Cardinals, outrebounded them 48-28 and their offense ran smoothly throughout the game.

It was the first time in 11 games the Irish shot better than 50 percent. Louisville had held seven of 10 Big East opponents to below 40 percent shooting and hadn't allowed anyone to shoot better than 48 percent.

It was the second straight game the Cardinals got off to a poor start. The Cardinals, who shot 34.8 percent in the first half Sunday against St. John's, shot just 23 percent against the Irish. They shot 38 percent for the game.

Against St. John's they overcame the poor start. Against the Irish they couldn't.

Harangody, whose five points against UCLA on Saturday were the fewest he's scored since he was a freshman two years ago, was 14-of-21 from the field. McAlarney had five 3-pointers and finished with 21 points, Ayers scored 19 and Tory Jackson had 14.

Terrence Williams, Louisville's leading scorer at 13 points a game, struggled for a second straight game with a bruised right wrist. After scoring three points against St. John's, he didn't make his first shot from the field until there was 13:23 left in the game and the Cardinals were down by 20. He finished with five points.

Earl Clark led Louisville with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Samardo Samuels, who had two front teeth knocked out against St. John's on Sunday, finished with 10 points.

The Irish, who had a school-record 45-game home winning streak until losing to Connecticut on Jan. 24, avoided their first ever three-game home losing streak in the Big East. It was just Louisville's second road loss in its last 12.

[Associated Press]

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