Louisville drops 10th straight, 76-62 at Notre Dame

Jan 28, 2023 - 6:58 PM

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In a season filled with ineptitude the likes of which none of us have ever seen, Louisville penned another woeful chapter Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinals trailed by as many as 30 and never really threatened host Notre Dame, as the Fighting Irish moved to 2-9 in ACC play with a 76-62 triumph. Mike Brey’s team entered the game on a four game losing streak, had lost seven of its last eight, and its only prior conference victory was over Georgia Tech by 1 in overtime.

Louisville, which has now lost 10 games in a row, dropped to 2-19 overall and 0-10 in league play. The Cardinals are now one loss away from the program’s second 20-loss season in its 110-year existence, and two losses away from a new single season program record.

If there was a positive for U of L on Saturday it was the play of newcomer Emmanuel Okorafor and seldom-used freshman Fabio Basili.

Okorafor, making his collegiate debut, played with a refreshing dose of energy and finished with 8 points, 5 rebounds and 1 block. Basili helped keep things somewhat respectable in the second half, knocking down a pair of threes, running the offense without turning the ball over, and handing out a couple of assists.

Any positives, however, came long after Louisville had already played itself out of having any chance at winning a conference game for the first time this season.

The Cardinals came out with next-to-no energy, refused to contest outside shots against the best three-point shooting team in the ACC, and didn’t take care of the ball against a team that’s very rarely going to “force” a turnover.

Somehow, it’s still only January.