Louisville Courier Journal

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Louisville’s win over Notre Dame is a classic glass-half-full, glass-half-empty situation, but most fans who wore red on Saturday will take it.

The Cardinals gave up a big halftime lead but hit critical shots in the closing minutes and locked down in a memorable final possession to leave South Bend with a key 67-64 win over the Fighting Irish.

Louisville’s fans, players and coaches sweated through a second half full of ups and downs, with a few more downs than they would have wanted. But coach Chris Mack wasn’t complaining when the game was over — he was thrilled with what he'd seen moments earlier.

“I loved the way we finished the game,” Mack said. “I know everybody’s going to point to other things, but this team needed to figure out a way to be able to cut through some adversity. We haven’t been able to do that. I thought a couple of our guys just played like experienced players in a tough game — Dwayne Sutton in particular. Big kahunas right there, or however you pronounce it.”

“Cojones” was the word Louisville’s coach was looking for, but we’ll give him a pass.

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The Cardinals led by 12 points at halftime but nearly collapsed in front of a packed house in at Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame hit more 3-pointers than you could count in the second half to rally back, taking a 55-53 lead with 7:04 to go on a big shot from deep by T.J. Gibbs. The Fighting Irish stayed in control and looked ready to wrap up the comeback — until Sutton, a redshirt senior who does it all for Louisville, got involved.

He hasn’t been a lights-out shooter from deep this season, but Sutton looked like Steph Curry when the spotlight was at its brightest.

He knocked down a 3-pointer with 3:27 to go to give Louisville a 60-59 lead. Notre Dame matched him with a 3-ball on the other end, and Jordan Nwora tied it back up with a bucket before Sutton came through in the clutch again. He connected on his next attempt from deep with 2 minutes remaining to put the Cardinals back up by three and suck the life out of the Notre Dame crowd.

“A senior like that, knowing that it’s his last go-around, it’s really good to see,” Mack said. "He does things the right way.”

Sutton's struggled from deep lately, but his 3-pointers changed the game Saturday. The key, he said, is staying confident.

"My coaches do a good job of believing in me, and so do my teammates, so I just stepped up and knocked them down," Sutton, who finished with 10 points and 14 big rebounds, told reporters in South Bend. "... Ryan (McMahon) and Jordan are pretty much better shooters than me, but I definitely can knock some shots down and I proved that today."

McMahon had plenty to say of Sutton's late-game performance.

"He’s just an incredible player and he makes clutch plays for our team," McMahon said.

The last possession was a whirlwind. McMahon turned the ball over on a pass inside to Malik Williams and the Fighting Irish, trailing by three, took it back up the court. But Nwora stepped up on defense, locking down two Notre Dame guards on the wing and forcing them to go inside, and the Cardinals held strong at the rim. Star Notre Dame big man John Mooney came down with the rebound —he scored 15 points and had 19 boards on the day — but missed a 3-pointer as time expired, as Williams got a hand in his face at the buzzer.

Nwora's defense made the difference Mack said, and the Cardinals did what they've spent months talking about. They finished.

"That’s what we’ve talked about all year is finishing — finishing games, finishing the season, finishing at practice, finishing at film sessions, everything," McMahon said. "So the way we finished the game today is the way we want to finish for the rest of the season."

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It was a big win, but the season isn't over. Saturday marked the first night of a three-game road stretch.

Louisville's next game is Tuesday night at Pittsburgh, with a Saturday showdown at Duke looming. The Cardinals beat the Panthers 64-46 back in December at the Yum Center, but Pittsburgh has won four of five games since then.

It'll be another game for Louisville's veteran-heavy roster, and Sutton said they'll be ready for the challenge.

"We’re a pretty old team. We’ve got a lot of fifth-year seniors, a lot of juniors," he said. "I think it’s just times like that where you’ve got to step up and show your leadership and show your experience. I think we did a great job of that tonight."

Lucas Aulbach can be reached at laulbach@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4649 or on Twitter @LucasAulbach. Support strong local journalism and subscribe: www.courier-journal.com/lucasa.