The Big East Tournament Final Four is underway and Notre Dame and Louisville will face off following the final rivalry game between Syracuse and Georgetown at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
The Cardinals are ranked fourth in the nation and face the Irish in the semifinals for the second time since playing Notre Dame in five overtimes in early February. That game was a marathon for all the players involved, as six players lasted 50 minutes in the game and scored over 10 points. Notre Dame defeated Louisville 104-101 in the marathon contest, which was replayed on ESPN all night.
The two played again on Saturday as the Cardinals defeated the Irish with some suffocating defense that saw Notre Dame hit just 39 percent from the field in the 73-57 home win. This will be the last game between the two teams in the Big East, as Notre Dame is bolting to the ACC next year, with the Cardinals following in 2004.
Louisville is the second seed at MSG and is entering the tournament as defending champions after winning eight straight games by nearly 16 points. The Cardinals walked over Villanova 74-55 on Thursday in the quarterfinals and got to celebrate with Bill Clinton after the game, as he is friendly with coach Rick Pitino.
The Cardinals are ranked 46th in scoring with over 70 points per game and are 45th in rebounding and 46th in assists in the nation. Notre Dame ranks 94th in points with 70 per game and is ranked fifth in assists while making over 46 percent of their shots from the field.
Louisville star Russ Smith was the focal point of the offense and rebounded from some bad news, as he scored 28 points after finding out his old coach from high school died earlier in the day. He also battled through an ankle injury.
"I twisted it pretty bad, and coach taped it," Smith said. "I went back out there and put everything aside. We've got a Big East game going on."
Smith is an erratic player at times, but he was key for Cardinals while hitting seven of his 12 shots from the field.
"He was brilliant because he passed the ball, he played awesome defense, shot the ball well, made great decisions," Pitino said. "Even a couple of his turnovers were trying to get people the ball."
Louisville was punishing on defense and forced 25 turnovers by Villanova while keeping them under 40 percent shooting. Peyton Siva had 13 points against Notre Dame in the last matchup on Saturday and will look at playing aggressively against the Irish on Friday night.
"I think we win with our defense," Pitino said. "I think we were just very intense. We were really quick. We're fast. It was an all-time high."
Notre Dame took down Rutgers on Wednesday winning 69-61 and donned some very bright jerseys that made waves on social media. The two teams have played a number of close games, with the five of the last seven games heading into overtime. Head coach Mike Brey is expecting more of the same at Madison Square Garden on Friday.
"Here we go again," Brey said. "When the games have been in overtime, that's when we've gotten our wins. When they've won, they've usually thumped us. I hope it's overtime. They're really good. We just played them last Saturday, and they're playing with a great rhythm, and it comes down to taking care of the ball."
The winner of the matchup on Friday will face off against the winner of Georgetown and Syracuse on Saturday, with the winner of that game taking home the Big East tournament crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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