RTC Live: Louisville @ Notre Dame
Posted by rtmsf on February 9th, 2011
Game #134. It’s another battle of top twenty teams in the Big East tonight at Notre Dame. What else is new?
In a battle that possesses major Big East implications, Rick Pitino takes his the #15 Louisville Cardinals to Notre Dame, Indiana, to take on Mike Brey’s #7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Irish are currently in sole possession of second place in the Big East, while the Cardinals sit in third place, only a half game behind. Homecourt has been extremely kind to the Irish all season, as they remain undefeated at the Purcell Pavilion. The Cardinals have had their share of road woes in conference play with losses at Villanova, Providence and Georgetown. Notre Dame enters following a hard-fought home victory over Rutgers on Sunday afternoon. Louisville enters coming off their own tough win- a Saturday struggle at home versus DePaul. Rick Pitino’s squad will have a major boost, as leading scorer Preston Knowles will return to the lineup following his absence Saturday due to an ankle injury. Mike Brey’s squad, winners of five in a row, are led by Big East Player of the Year candidate Ben Hansbrough and the emerging senior forward Scott Martin. Knowles and sophomore guard Peyton Siva will look to lead the Cardinals to a huge road win, but nothing will come easy as the Irish will likely feed off a huge home crowd. If ND is able to grab an early lead, then it is reasonable to assume that the Irish will be in great shape to capture their sixth straight victory.
