In what has been a rollercoaster 2024-25 season, this young Notre Dame men’s basketball team in Micah Shrewsberry’s second season is coming off one of its most exhilarating wins of the season to sweep the season series against Boston College. On the road in the late hours, the Irish flipped the script on the Eagles, coming back from a 14-point deficit in the final 14 minutes to force double overtime. Even after senior guard Julian Roper II was ejected following a flagrant two in a loose-ball sequence in the second overtime, they dug deep to pull out a late victory. Star sophomore guard Markus Burton’s career-high 32 points, eight coming across the two overtime periods, and a late go-ahead putback from junior forward Kebba Njie got the Irish over the edge in Chestnut Hill.
In a season largely defined by failed execution in late-game scenarios and a number of nail-biting losses in crunch time, the win was a big step in the right direction, one this team will hope to build on as it enters the final stretch of ACC play in February. The Irish return home this weekend to face the resurgent Louisville Cardinals, who have taken on a completely different character in 2024-25. While Notre Dame has bested them in their past four matchups, including a 72-50 rout on the road last season, this new-look Cardinals team will prove to be a far tougher test.
One of the historic powers in college basketball, the Louisville Cardinals endured one of their worst stretches in program history during the short-lived Kenny Payne era. In the past two seasons under Payne, they went 12-52, leading him to get replaced by former Winthrop and Charleston coach Pat Kelsey. In his first season, Kelsey inherited a revamped roster with 13 transfers, one freshman and only a single returnee from 2023-24. He has led the new-look Cardinals to a 19-6 record, going 12-2 in ACC play and sitting only a game behind conference-leader Duke, which recently opened the door with an upset loss to Clemson.
Louisville opened up the year 6-5 after a challenging slate of ranked opponents. The Cardinals suffered losses to Tennessee, No. 23 Ole Miss, No. 9 Duke and No. 5 Kentucky but took down No. 14 Indiana in the Battle 4 Atlantis mini-tournament in the Bahamas, their best win to date. As they approached the month of January, they hit their stride in conference play. Since their first 11, the Cardinals have won 13 of 14 games, slipping up only once on the road against Georgia Tech. After their most recent 91-66 rout against NC State, they are a projected No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament according to Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology, and a strong finish to their ACC slate in February could propel them even higher.
Kelsey’s team has succeeded despite key injuries to Kasean Pryor, the fifth-year graduate transfer from South Florida who averaged 12.0 points and 6.1 rebounds in his first seven games before tearing the ACL in his left knee, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Long Beach State senior transfer Aboubacar Traore, projected to be another key contributor in the frontcourt, also missed a 10-game stint with a broken arm that he’s continued to battle since returning to a limited role in late December. The core of transfers Chucky Hepburn, Terrence Edwards Jr., Reyne Smith and J’Vonne Hadley have helped Louisville overcome these injuries and contend in the ACC this season.
The senior Hepburn, who played three seasons at Wisconsin, is in the midst of his best collegiate season, leading the team in points and assists with 15.0 and 6.2 respectively while shooting personal-best percentages from the field and free throw line (43.1/84.6). Edwards and Smith are narrowly behind Hepburn with 14.9 and 14.4 points per game respectively. Smith, in particular, has helped change the calculus for Louisville on offense with his sharpshooting capability. Of his 10.9 attempts per game, 9.6 of them are threes and he has been hitting an impressive 40.7% of them. The Cardinals as a team are one of the highest-volume three-point shooting teams in the country, taking 30.2 per game, which ranks eighth in the nation. Smith’s addition is a massive reason why. Last but not least, Hadley has put up 12.5 points per game on an efficient 52.5% from the field alongside a team-high 7.2 rebounds. Outside of Pryor, this Louisville team is getting healthy at the right time heading into March. Traore seems to be back to 100% and has thrived in his 15 minutes per game off the bench. After missing his second career game in four seasons, Hepburn returned from a groin injury against NC State, where he scored 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting. Notre Dame will need to be at its best to slow down their momentum on Sunday.
Tip-off for the ACC clash in Purcell Pavilion is set for 8 p.m. with ACC Network providing the broadcast.
