SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The University of Louisville men’s basketball team grabbed its 20th win of the season after a 75-60 win over Notre Dame in Purcell Pavilion on Sunday night.

Louisville moves to 20-6 overall and 13-2 in conference play. UofL now has its first 20-win season since 2019-2020 and is tied for the fourth-most 20-win seasons in the NCAA. The Cards have won 14 of their last 15 and took home their first win over Notre Dame since Feb. 23, 2021.

“I’ve known Micah (Shrewsberry) for a long time, back when he was an assistant at Butler, and I was an assistant at Xavier,” said head coach Pat Kelsey. “We had some battles with them back in the day when he was an assistant under Coach Stephens. I remember being at the AU Nationals and having dinner with him one time when we were both assistants. I was really impressed with the caliber of human being he is. He’s an awesome dude and a brilliant coach. It’s frightening going up against him because you have to prepare for so many things. He does such a great job of picking on matchups. He's one of the best coaches in the country. [Notre Dame] is a tough place to play. I thought that the environment was really good tonight, you know, bad weather, all that stuff. I just thought our guys were gritty. It was a very physical game. I give Notre Dame a lot of credit. They battled. We're a tough, physical team. That was a really tough, physical team tonight. They went at us. That little stretch in the second half when we really kind of expanded the lead, I think about Chucky (Hepburn’s) pitch ahead to Kader (Traore), and Kader gets downhill, gets fouled, gets an and-one, and then Javon Hadley bangs a couple threes. Those were really crucial plays in the game that gave us a big boost.”

Louisville used the starting lineup of Chucky Hepburn, J’Vonne Hadley, Terrence Edwards Jr., Reyne Smith, and James Scott for the ninth time this season. This lineup is now 8-1 and each player scored double digits.

Notre Dame got out to a quick 5-0 lead before Smith buried back-to-back 3’s to give Louisville its first points. The Fighting Irish answered with a layup and a three-pointer before Hepburn added his first points of the night as the Cards went down 10-8.

ND pulled ahead 18-12 before a three from Noah Waterman off the bench started a 13-0 run for UofL that started at 13:09 and elapsed 5:09. Hepburn, Terrence Edwards Jr., and Khani Rooths all added to the 25-18 lead.

Possessions went back and forth as Louisville went up 32-24, highlighted by a one-handed alley-oop dunk from James Scott and a three from Edwards Jr. Out of Louisville’s first timeout, Smith knocked down his third three-pointer at the horn to give the Cards a 35-28 lead over the Irish at the halftime break.

The Irish took the first points out of the break following two made free throws to cut UofL’s lead to five. Notre Dame tabbed two more free throws before Smith’s 100th three-pointer of the season got Louisville on the board in the second half, as the Cards led 38-32 with under 16:00 to play.

Edwards Jr. tabbed another three and Hadley added a layup to lead 43-35. UofL rolled to a 55-44 lead after scores from Scott, Edwards Jr., Hepburn, and Aboubacar Traore while the Cardinal defense held the Fighting Irish to zero field goals over 3:52 with 9:07 left in the half.

Out of a Notre Dame timeout, the Irish tallied two points, but a fastbreak layup and +1 foul from Traore started a 9-0 run for Louisville that started at 8:11 and elapsed 2:08. During the run, Hadley knocked down two consecutive 3’s assisted by Hepburn and forced another ND timeout, as the Cards pulled out to their largest lead of the night at 64-46.

Hepburn, Edwards Jr., and Scott all added to the point total and maintained Louisville’s lead down the stretch as the Cards closed it out 75-60. With this win, UofL clinches at least a single bye for the ACC Tournament.

Scott notched his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards against the Irish. Hepburn had 16 points, going 7 of 10 from the field, and added six assists. Smith tallied his 100th three-point make of the year, marking his second straight season with over 100 makes from beyond the arc.

Markus Burton and Tae Davis led the Notre Dame offense with 22 and 15 points, respectively. Each shot a perfect 100% from the charity stripe as the Irish went 14 of 16 from the line.

The Cards will return home to face Florida State in a midday matchup at the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday, Feb. 22. Louisville previously beat the Seminoles in Tallahassee on Dec. 21, winning 90-76. The game will be broadcast on The CW.