Louisville, KY (Sports Network) - Gorgui Dieng and Peyton Siva came through
with big performances in likely their last home appearances, leading eighth-
ranked Louisville to a 73-57 victory over No. 24 Notre Dame in the final
regular-season matchup for both teams.
Dieng, a junior who's expected to declare for this year's NBA Draft, racked up
20 points on 8-of-11 shooting along with a game-high 12 rebounds, while the
senior Siva delivered 13 points to help Louisville (26-5, 14-4 Big East) to
its seventh consecutive triumph since its epic 104-101 loss to the
Fighting Irish in South Bend on Feb. 9.
That game took a Big East regular-season record five overtimes to decide, but
there was no such drama in the rematch. The Cardinals never trailed at any
stage, owned a 10-point lead at halftime and were ahead by double-digits for
much of the contest.
The win also locked Louisville into the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Big East
Tournament, where it will next take the court in Thursday's quarterfinals.
Garrick Sherman hit on 7-of-10 field goal attempts in a 14-point effort for
Notre Dame (23-8, 11-7), but the Irish struggled offensively for much of the
day and shot just 39.3 percent as a team.
Jerian Grant, who helped spark Notre Dame's comeback in last month's thriller
against the Cardinals, went just 2-of-12 from the floor while finishing with
eight points.
The Irish missed out on a chance to earn a double-bye in next week's Big East
Tournament. With the loss, Notre Dame will be seeded sixth in the event and
faces either Rutgers or DePaul in Wednesday's second round.
The Sports Network