No. 11 Notre Dame gets big road win vs. No. 14 Louisville

The University of Louisville basketball team had weathered two road trips last week and appeared to be on smoother footing before Wednesday night's matchup against 11th-ranked Notre Dame.

But it's hard to beat anyone if they're shooting 50%, and it's even harder to beat someone when they're offsetting a lot of what No. 14 Louisville does well.

That's what happened in Notre Dame's 71-59 win at Louisville, a frustrating loss for a Louisville team that hoped to prove itself against one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's top clubs.

Notre Dame (25-5, 13-4 in the ACC) shot 53.5% from the field, making big shot after big shot every time Louisville seemed to gain momentum and have a chance to take the lead.

The Irish limited their turnovers to just 11 and negated Louisville's 14-4 advantage in second-chance points by getting 21 bench points and making 20 of 25 free throws.

The loss hurts Louisville (23-7, 11-6 in the ACC) for myriad reasons. The Cards played well for significant stretches on Wednesday and got 23 points and 12 rebounds from Montrezl Harrell, but they just never found the right shots in the right moments.

Louisville now drops into a tie for fourth place with UNC, and the race for a double bye in the ACC tournament next week comes down to Saturday's games. Louisville plays Virginia at 6:30; UNC plays Duke at 9.

But beyond the ACC race, the defeat cost Louisville a chance for another signature home win against one of the top teams in the country, something the Cards wanted so desperately after cruising past FSU on Saturday.

Rozier's struggles: On a night that was at least in part about Louisville's talented two guard, Rozier, vs. Notre Dame's talented two guard, Jerian Grant, it was Demetrius Jackson who stole the show. Jackson, who Louisville recruited as a high school prospect, made big shot after big shot and compiled an impressive stat line. That contrasted another rough shooting night (4 of 15, 11 points) for Rozier, who just can't seem to find his jumper at this point in the season.

Rozier has been Louisville's most consistent player all campaign, but he again struggled from the field, and this time, Louisville didn't have the bench help to offset it.

A chess match: If you enjoy good basketball strategy, then you enjoyed Wednesday night. Notre Dame presented Louisville with a challenge, and Louisville presented Notre Dame with its own. The Irish have been using a small lineup all season, with four 6-foot-5 guys and a 6-1 guard. They used that group to beat Louisville's press, spread out Louisville's defense and essentially say, "Defend our smaller, quicker guys with your bigs, or dare us to shoot."

Louisville answered in the second half by switching off screens and sagging a man-to-man press. Notre Dame struggled out of the halftime break, starting the half a meager 1 of 10 from the field. Obviously the Irish recovered, but there was plenty of basketball chess to take in at the Yum! Center.

Jeff Greer writes for the Louisville Courier-Journal.