SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Louisville’s homegrown upper classmen proved too grown for Notre Dame in a double overtime tug-of-war Tuesday night.
Junior Ray Spalding scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while senior and fellow Louisville native Quentin Snider matched a career high with 22 points as the Cardinals pulled out an 82-78 win over the Irish to move into sole possession of second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“In the second half, our experience really helped us, our experienced guys,” Cardinal coach David Padgett said. “I thought (freshman) Jordan Nwora got us back in the game in the first half, but our experienced guys played like they’ve been through these battles before when the game got down to the end.”
Louisville (14-4, 4-1) spoiled the return of Matt Farrell for the Irish (13-6, 3-3) in front of a sellout crowd.
Snider’s two free throws with 6.5 seconds left gave Louisville its 82-78 advantage as the Cardinals finished 15 of 17 at the line.
“Snider and Spalding, they were men,” Irish coach Mike Brey said after his team suffered its third straight loss.
Anas Mahmoud’s baby hook to start the second OT produced a 73-71 lead the visitors never relinquished in a game that yielded 11 lead changes and 10 ties before that.
Farrell, who missed the previous three games with an ankle sprain, scored 23 points and dealt eight assists, but appeared to wear down as the minutes wore on. He went just 2 of 14 from the field (both 3-pointers) after halftime.
“(Louisville’s) size really bothered him, and in all honesty, fatigue got to him,” Brey said. “It’s not like we can take him out and rest him. I was asking him at every timeout, but he was really tired. He hadn’t played heavy minutes in a while.”
Martinas Geben, highlighted by some dominant play in the extra sessions, finished with career highs of 22 points and 17 rebounds for the Irish. He was 10 of 13 from the field.
Farrell missed a 3-pointer from the left corner as regulation expired and was off on a possible game-winning shot with 2.2 seconds left in the first OT.
Louisville, a game behind 5-0 Virginia in the ACC, won at Notre Dame for the first time since February 1994, ending a streak of six straight losses at Purcell Pavilion.
The Irish, after going 18-2, 14-2 and 16-2 at home over the last three seasons, dropped to 7-3 at home this season.
BIG PICTURE
Louisville: The Cardinals face the relative meat of their league schedule over their final 13 regular-season games, but have proven effective on the road of late. They recently took No. 20 Clemson to the wire and last week downed then-No. 23 Florida State before beating ND in a hostile environment. Five of their remaining contests will likely be against ranked clubs, including a pair against No. 2 Virginia and a trip to No. 5 Duke.
Notre Dame: Farrell’s return lent some stability for the Irish, even with All-American Bonzie Colson still out and expected to possibly miss the rest of the season with a fractured foot. ND tried four different lineups in its four games since Colson’s injury heading into Thursday, before Farrell’s return allowed them to repeat a lineup.
OVERTIME, OVER AND OVER
The Cardinals and Irish went to overtime for the ninth time in 37 all-time meetings, including the eighth time in the last 20.
Not only that, but each of the last three such meetings has entailed at least two extra periods, including ND’s 104-101 victory in five OTs in February 2013.
Louisville’s last win at Notre Dame, a February 1994 game, also extended to OT.
MINUTES UPON MINUTES
Each team had at least three individuals go over 40 minutes. Spalding played 47, Snider 45 and Deng Adel 42 for Louisville. Farrell and T.J. Gibbs each played 48 for Notre Dame, with Geben logging 42.
UP NEXT
Louisville: The Cardinals host Boston College on Sunday.
Notre Dame: The Irish visit No. 20 Clemson on Saturday.
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