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#13 Louisville visits Notre Dame on Saturday
By: Brian Graham - StatFox
Published: 2/12/2016  at  12:49:00 PM
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LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (19-5, 8-3 ACC)

at NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (17-7, 8-4 ACC)

Purcell Pavilion - South Bend, IN
Tip-off: Saturday, 4:00 p.m. ET
Line: TBD

Two teams looking for their ninth ACC win this season will clash on Saturday when No. 13 Louisville visits Notre Dame.

The Cardinals (10-10 ATS overall) don't have a lot to play for after their self-imposed, one-year postseason ban for NCAA recruiting violations, and are trying to bounce back after falling 72-65 at Duke on Monday. They have struggled mightily on the road this season at 3-4 SU and 1-6 ATS, and have surrendered 72.9 PPG in these seven contests, compared to just 55.1 PPG at home. The Fighting Irish (10-11-1 ATS overall) are surging with two straight underdog wins over North Carolina and at Clemson. They are now 12-1 SU (5-5-1 ATS) at home this season where they outscore visitors by 15.1 PPG. Although Louisville has thrived with 3+ days' rest this season at 12-1 SU (8-3 ATS), Notre Dame has won four of the past six meetings (SU and ATS), including an epic 104-101, five-overtime win when the teams last squared off in South Bend on Feb. 9, 2013. The squads usually play high-scoring games, as the Over is 10-2 in the past dozen matchups between the two.

Which school will extend its winning streak on Monday night? For the answer, connect to The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts Best Bets throughout the season. The experts are coming off three straight big weeks at 61% ATS (46-29), led by StatFox Zach at 73% ATS (11-4) and StatFox Dave at 67% (10-5). StatFox Brian continues to surge with a 65% ATS record (26-14) over the past eight weeks. StatFox Gary is also hot, going 63% ATS (19-11) over the past six weeks, while StatFox Scott is a profitable 54% ATS (15-13-2) in this same timeframe.

Louisville leads the nation in scoring margin at +18.0 PPG, as its offense puts up 78.4 PPG (65th in D-I) on 48.1% FG (25th in nation) and 36.3% threes (94th in D-I), while the elite defense allows only 60.3 PPG (2nd in nation) on 37.8% FG (7th in D-I) and 30.7% threes (24th in nation). This team is relentless on the glass with its +9.5 RPG margin (10th in D-I) and 14.3 offensive RPG (9th in nation), and forces many more turnovers (14.8 TOPG, 52nd in D-I) than it commits (12.1 TOPG, 93rd in nation). The biggest weakness for the team is foul shooting (68.9% FT, 198th in D-I). Louisville has three main scorers that pace the offense in G Damion Lee (16.7 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 1.5 SPG), G Trey Lewis (12.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.3 APG) and C Chinanu Onuaku (9.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.9 BPG). The senior Lee has scored at least 10 points in every game except for two, but made only 3-of-15 shots in Monday's loss at Duke. Lee, who played his first three collegiate seasons at Drexel, is shooting a career-best 46% FG to go along with strong rates of 36% threes and 87% FT. Lewis, who is also senior transfer, has scored 27 points on 8-of-16 FG and 9-of-9 FT in the past two games. He is knocking down 38% threes and 85% FT this season after draining 42% threes at Cleveland State last season. The 6-foot-10 Onuaku had a great two games last week with 20 points, 23 rebounds, five assists and two blocks in the pair of victories, but was held to two points and three rebounds in a foul-plagued performance on Monday. Before the dud at Duke, the sophomore had pulled down double-digit rebounds in nine of the previous 11 contests. Another key to this Cardinals' success is the play of G Quentin Snider (9.7 PPG, 3.6 APG), who ranks fifth in the ACC in Ast/TO ratio (2.8) and is coming off a strong effort at Duke when he scored 12 points (4-of-9 FG, 2-of-5 threes) in 25 minutes before fouling out.

Notre Dame's offense has been top-notch all season with 79.0 PPG (47th in nation) on 48.8% FG (16th in D-I) and 37.8% threes (41st in nation). This is a very unselfish team that makes the extra pass (14.2 APG) and has the fewest turnovers in D-I at 9.0 per game. Even though the defense forces a mere 10.2 turnovers per game, it still limits opponents to a respectable 70.6 PPG on 43.8% FG. However, the perimeter defense has been awful, as opponents are draining 39.3% threes (339th in nation) against the Irish this season. With a limited bench, Notre Dame does a nice job staying out of foul trouble (15.7 fouls per game, 7th-fewest in nation) but stays aggressive on the glass (+4.0 RPG margin, 68th in D-I). Five Irish players average double-figure points with PG Demetrius Jackson leading the way at 16.2 PPG to go along with 5.0 APG, 3.5 RPG and 1.4 SPG. The junior shoots well from all areas (47% FG, 34% threes, 77% FT) and ranks seventh in the conference with a 2.6 Ast/TO ratio. Jackson has pumped in 36 points in the past two games, while committing only two turnovers in a combined 80 minutes on the court. Senior PF Zach Auguste provides the bulk of the scoring down low with a double-double season average of 14.1 PPG and 10.0 RPG. Auguste followed up a double-double on Saturday with 19 points (8-of-12 FG, 3-of-3 FT) and eight rebounds on Monday, marking his ninth straight game with at least eight boards. Junior G Steve Vasturia (12.5 PPG, 3.3 APG, 3.0 RPG) leads the team with 35.6 MPG and shoots high rates from all over the court at 48% FG, 40% threes and 83% FT. He has scored at least nine points in eight straight games, dishing out at least four assists in seven of those contests. F Bonzie Colson (12.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG) and F V.J. Beachem (11.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG) are the other main scorers for this team. The sophomore Colson leads the team with a 55% FG clip, while the junior Beachem is the best long-range shooter at 43% threes.


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