LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Back in the days before teams routinely played 20 games in conference play alone, the 20-win threshold was a standard of success in college basketball. It’s not quite as big a deal these days, but for the University of Louisville men’s basketball program, win No. 20 of the regular season Sunday was significant.
The Cardinals handled Notre Dame 75-60 in South Bend, reaching the 20-win mark for the first time since 2019-20. They also won their eighth road game of the season and have eclipsed the number of road wins Louisville has had in all the seasons since that 2019-20 campaign -- combined.
It's easy to forget that when Kasean Pryor went down with a torn ACL in December, the outlook for Louisville looked questionable. The Cardinals came home from the Bahamas and lost their next two and three of their next four, including a hard-fought setback at rival Kentucky. But in the three-week span until New Year’s, with only two games, Louisville remade itself, figured out how to play without Pryor, and geared up for a run that has gotten the attention of the college basketball world.
Six weeks later, the Cards are 20-game winners, and still going.
At Notre Dame on Sunday, they were tangled up in a relatively close game, then sped away with three straight stops and some hot shooting.
20 Wins ✅#GoCards pic.twitter.com/U09CbRQj80
— Louisville Men's Basketball (@LouisvilleMBB) February 17, 2025
Louisville led by nine with just over eight minutes to play, then went on a 9-0 run, with an old-fashioned three pointer on the fast break by Aboubacar Traore, then two threes by J’Vonne Hadley, assisted by Chucky Hepburn, and just like that, their lead was 18.
The run came after a trio of stifling defensive possessions, and was part of a larger 13-2 run that saw the Cardinals make seven straight shots.
In that little stretch in the second half when we really kind of expanded the lead, I think about like, Chucky (Hepburn) pitching ahead to Kader, and Kader going downhill gathers and gets an and one, and then J'vonne Hadley bangs a couple threes. Those were really crucial plays in the game that that gave us a gave us a big boost."
In all, Louisville held Notre Dame to 32 percent shooting in the second half, got their lead to double digits lead with nine minutes to play, then hit the gas to run their league road record to 8-1.
Louisville overcame an early deficit and some hot shooting by Notre Dame to open the game, using a 13-0 run to erase an eight-point lead for the Irish. The Cardinals built their own eight-point lead and led by seven at the half.
Reyne Smith made four threes, hitting the 100 made three-pointer mark in the second half, becoming only the third Louisville player to do that. Taquan Dean did it twice and Preston Knowles once.
"You know he's like a son to me," Kelsey said. "It's kind of emotional to see the success he's had this year, because he came with me from Charleston. He was a three-year player, decorated player there. I believed he was one of the best three-point shooters in the country, but now on this stage for him to really have raised the level of his game, he's better here than he was there -- and he was really, really good there. It's just so awesome to see, and it's a testament to how invested in his game he is. He's not just a quote-unquote suburban jump shooter, as Skip Prosser used to say. He can guard He's tough. He'll go in there and put his nose in there and rebound. He's a really good all around player."
Markus Burton, Notre Dame’s sensational senior point guard who leads the ACC in scoring, was as good as advertised, finishing with 22 points. But he didn’t have enough scoring help.
Louisville’s balanced offensive attack was led by Hepburn, with 14 points and six assists. Smith added 12 points, Hadley had 10 and Terrence Edwards Jr., who did not travel with the team to Notre Dame and hurried up on Sunday after his first son, Terrence Edwards III, was born Saturday night, finished with 14.
"Terrence Edwards II -- who is our guy -- had a little boy yesterday. Terrence Edwards III -- Trey," Kelsey said. "Terrence is just a wonderful human being and is going to be an unbelievable dad. It's probably more than you guys want to know, but I'm just so proud of him. He got up here late. Had to fly up today, just got to the shootaround at the last second, and it just was really good. And he led and played very well for us, as always."
James Scott, still playing in a mask because of teeth he had knocked out and facial fractures, finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Louisville had a scare at the end of the game, when Burton crashed into Hepburn on an offensive foul with 26 seconds to play and Hepburn was writhing on the ground. But Hepburn got up and walked off, and the Cards polished off victory No. 20.
Kelsey said Hepburn was using a defensive technique called "sternum." When an opponent drives, you show the officials your hands and stick out your sternum.
"He did it so well that the hurt his sternum," Kelsey said. "But he's going to be all right, so Louisville fans can take a deep breath."
And they can enjoy No. 20, while Louisville can enjoy a long break before its next game -- at home against Florida State on Saturday.
Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
