Louisville Basketball: 5 Encouraging Takeaways After The Notre Dame Loss

We take a look at five encouraging takeaways from Louisville basketball’s loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday night.

Well, the Louisville basketball team wasn’t able to get a win against Notre Dame in South Bend, again, and will be looking to get their first conference win against Georgia Tech on Saturday. While it won’t be easy, I expect that the Cards will find a way to bring home the victory.

Anyways, back to Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish played their tails off on Wednesday night and came away with the win.

Even though the Cardinals didn’t win, there were five things that we identified at extremely encouraging takeaways that can be seen below:

Jan 4, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Donovan Mitchell (45) goes up for a shot as Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard T.J. Gibbs (2) and guard Rex Pflueger (0) defend in the first half at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

5. Donovan Mitchell Is Showing Great Signs Of Improvement

Even though the Cardinals weren’t able to get a win, Donovan Mitchell played another great game on Wednesday night. He followed up his 25 point game against Indiana, with a 20 point game against the Fighting Irish.

It was crucial to see how Mitchell was going to perform because the verdict was still out on if his game against the Hoosiers was a one-time fluke.

I don’t know what it was about being benched before the IU game that helped him, but I’m sure glad that Rick Pitino made that decision.

Mitchell is looking like he could become of one the best guards in the ACC by the end of this season, if not way before then.

Nov 11, 2016; Louisville, KY, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Ryan McMahon (30) dribbles against Evansville Aces guard Jaylon Brown (3) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Evansville 78-47. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

4. Ryan McMahon Showed He Is A Valuable Asset On This Team

Louisville has to find scoring from somewhere and since they want to live and die from the three, then it was really encouraging to see that Ryan McMahon came in and played pretty well. It was clear that Pitino desperately needed some points over those few minutes and McMahon was able to deliver.

He only had 5 points in his few minutes on the floor, but he hit a big three and drew a foul on another three point attempt.

Once McMahon gets more comfortable with playing high-level ACC basketball, especially on the road, he could become a very strong bench asset for Rick Pitino.

Regardless, he was one of the bright spots for the Cardinals on Wednesday night.

Jan 4, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Louisville Cardinals head coach Rick Pitino watches from the bench in the first half agains the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

3. Nine Out Of Ten Cardinals Scored Against Notre Dame

I may be in the minority here, but just by looking at the numbers, Louisville did a pretty good job of passing the basketball on Wednesday night. It was what kept them in the ball-game and helped them take the Fighting Irish all the way down to the wire.

Literally every guy that stepped onto the floor for Rick Pitino, other than David Levitch, scored against Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish are extremely good passers of the basketball and finding open guys, but the Cardinals actually had more assists than they did on Wednesday.

Louisville finished the game with 14, whereas Notre Dame only had 6.

It’s that type of basketball that will help the Cardinals be highly competitive throughout ACC play, regardless of however this game in South Bend turned out.

Jan 4, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Ray Spalding (13) gestures toward Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Martinas Geben (23) in the first half at the Purcell Pavilion. Spalding was called for an offensive foul on the play. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

2. Ray Spalding Is Becoming A Fantastic Second-Year Player

Rick Pitino gave Ray Spalding a vote of confidence against Notre Dame by putting him in the starting lineup and it looked to pay off, just not with a victory. Spalding did lead the entire team in turnovers with four, but he played solid in every other aspect of the basketball game.

He finished the game with a team-high 10 rebounds, had one block, and 6 points in the Cards loss to the Fighting Irish.

As Louisville fans, we have to understand that this team is still learning and growing through this tough schedule, especially a player like Ray Spalding. They are going to have their rough patches, but working through those tough times is what’s most important.

Spalding needs more important opportunities like these to continue to improve and develop into the player he is capable of becoming.

Jan 4, 2017; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Steve Vasturia (32) shoots a three point basket as Louisville Cardinals forward Ray Spalding (13) defends in the first half at the Purcell Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

1. Louisville’s Perimeter Defense Was Actually Pretty Darn Solid

When you go against a team like Notre Dame, they’re just flat-out going to get their points, but the key is making it difficult for them. While the Cardinals did make life hard on the Fighting Irish, they made things even easier by sending them to the free throw line much too often.

I don’t think I need to remind anyone that the Irish are the best free throw shooting team in America right?

With that being said, Notre Dame is averaging just over 10 three pointers made per game, however they only hit five against the Cards.

The good news is that Louisville is showing that they can shut down great scoring teams like Kentucky, Indiana, and Notre Dame.

The biggest difference in this game was that the Irish found more way to get to the free throw line. Therefore, don’t be too upset Cardinals fans, Louisville will get to play Notre Dame one more time in the KFC Yum Center in March.