Preview: Louisville Takes On Notre Dame at KFC Yum! Center

The Cardinals kick off the month of February with a home matchup against the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame guard Markus Burton (3) and Louisville guard J'Vonne Hadley (1) fall to the ground while going for a rebound during a NCAA men's basketball game between Notre Dame and Louisville at Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in South Bend. | MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Notre Dame Fighting Irish (11-11, 2-7 ACC) at No. 24 Louisville Cardinals (15-6, 5-4 ACC)

- Tipoff: Wednesday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ESPN2
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -14.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville Leads 27-19
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 75-60 on Feb. 16, 2025 (South Bend, Ind.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
• G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
• F J'Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, 6th)
• F/C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)

Notre Dame

• G Jalen Haralson (6-7, 220, Fr.)
• G Braeden Shrewsberry (6-4, 205, Jr.)
• G Cole Certa (6-5, 205, So.)
• F Brady Koehler (6-10, 205, Fr.)
• F Carson Towt (6-8, 250, Gr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Fighting Irish, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Notre Dame

Additional Coverage

• Watch: Louisville HC Pat Kelsey Previews Notre Dame
• Kelsey on Kasean Pryor's Diminished Role: 'You Just Got to Be Ready'

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville recently got back in the win column with an 88-74 victory over SMU in the first of two games against the Mustangs
• Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 172-67 (.720) all-time in conference play as a head coach.
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. has logged five games of 20+ points, tying the most 20-point games by a Louisville freshman in a single season. LaBradford Smith had five in 1987-88.
• As of Feb. 2, there are 28 players in DI shooting 41% or above from 3-point range in their career. No one in that group has made or attempted more 3-pointers than senior guard Isaac McKneely, who has made 293 on 709 attempts.
• Louisville is one of three DI teams with at least five victories of 40 points or more this season, joining Michigan (6) and High Point (6).
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. returned to the floor on Jan. 24 against Virginia Tech after missing eight games due to injury. He was named the 2025 USA Basketball Men's Athlete of the Year on Jan. 6.
• Louisville is 42-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.
• Louisville has had five games of at least 24 assists, the first time since 2010-11 that the program has had multiple games of 24+ assists; the Cardinals had five games of at 24+ assists that season. Louisville is one of eight teams in 2025-26 as of Feb. 2 to have five games of at least 24 assists. Louisville has had nine games of 20+ assists, one of 18 teams in the nation to do so.
• Louisville is 14th in the country in scoring margin at +15.6 points per game. The program is also fourth in 3-point attempts per game (33.9) and fifth in three pointers per game (11.8).
• The late great Junior Bridgeman is the sixth player in Louisville men's basketball history to have their jersey number retired
• Against Memphis on Dec. 13, Louisville had four different players with at least three 3-pointers apiece for the first time since Nov. 22, 2010 when the Cards played Chattanooga. It was the second time in program history that six different players made multiple 3-pointers, the first time being at WKU on Dec. 22, 2010.
• Senior guard Ryan Conwell is the only DI men's basketball player since at least 2010-11 to log at least 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes or less, according to Sports Reference. He notched that stat line against NJIT on Nov. 26.
• Kelsey reached his 300th career win on Jan. 10 with a victory over Boston College.
• Both Ryan Conwell and Mikel Brown Jr. represent Louisville on the preseason Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List.
• Louisville netted 20 3-pointers against NJIT on Nov. 26, the second-most made 3's in a single game in program history. It was just the second time ever the Cardinals have made at least 20 3's in a game. UofL is one of 13 teams in DI this season to make at least 20 3-pointers against another DI team, as of Jan. 25.
• With two 50-point victories on the season, it marks the first time Louisville has had two 50 point victories in one season since 2004-05.
• Louisville’s eight-point win over Kentucky marked the largest margin of victory the Cards have had over the Cats since 2008. It was the first time UofL has won the Battle of the Bluegrass since 2020, and the first time it claimed victory at home in the matchup since 2012.
• Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. scored 29 points against Kentucky on Nov. 11, 2025, the fourth-most points in a game by a Louisville freshman ever.
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. was named ACC Co-Player and Co-Rookie of the Week on Nov. 17 after averaging 24.0 ppg, 6.0 apg and shooting 48.1% from the floor in Louisville’s two Week 2 victories.
• The Cardinals landed two players on the Preseason All-ACC First Team, the only program to do so in 2025. Both Mikel Brown Jr., and Ryan Conwell earned the First Team nod. Louisville was picked second overall in the league by voting media members.
• UofL has three Cardinals on the roster that have scored over 1,000 DI points: Ryan Conwell (1,734), Isaac McKneely (1,333) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,244).
• There are 14 players who returned to DI this season that started the season with at least 175 made 3-pointers with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 38% or more; Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely are two of those 14 players.

Notre Dame

• The Irish are looking to capture their third road win of the season, which would tie last year’s mark. Notre Dame is 5-13 all-time at Louisville, but have won two straight there; though, Wednesday’s matchup will mark the first at Louisville under Pat Kelsey.
• Jalen Haralson is currently on the best stretch of his season. The super freshman has totaled 63 points (21.0 ppg) over the last 3 games on a blazing hot 63.9% shooting (23-36 FG). He’s also produced a team best 13 assists in that span.
• The Fighting Irish have to find a way to compete without their floor general, Markus Burton, for the second consecutive year no less. On Dec. 10, he had surgery performed on his left ankle, an injury he incurred at TCU. Burton was averaging a team best 18.5 points per game and was coming off one of his most complete games of his career after dropping his first career double-double with 18 points and 10 assists vs. Missouri.
• Braeden Shrewsberry continues to prove he’s one of the best from deep, ranking 2nd in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage at 41.8%. That number also ranks 28th in the country. He’s converting 2.8 made threes per game which ranks 4th in the league
• From halftime of Boston College to now, the Irish have shot 48.6% from the field, up from its season average of 45.0%. Since halftime of BC, they have scored 40+ points in a half 3 times out of a possible 5.
• Free throw shooting has seen a slight improvement as well, in fact, it was strong asset against Virginia where they went 28-34 aka 82.4%. The 28 made free throws were a season high. Over the last week, ND raised its free throw percentage from 68.8% to 69.9%.
• Freshman Brady Koehler produced a career high 17 points at Virginia Tech, pouring in 15 in the 2nd half. Overall, he was 5-7 from the field, plus 2-3 from three & 5-6 from the stripe. Since that performance, Koehler has started in 4 straight.
• Cole Certa has flashed NBA Jam on fire like moments at different points of this season. The sophomore sharpshooter flashed it in the season opener when he dropped 22 points on a 6-9 night from three-point range. He showed it vs. Mizzou when he converted three triples in the final 4:35 of the game, inlcuding the game-winning three with 17 seconds left.
• Notre Dame left the desert with a 1-2 record at the Players Era. The Fighting Irish defeated Rutgers but fell to Kansas and No. 2 Houston by 10 points each.
• For Notre Dame and Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry, retention and player development has been key. For the second consecutive year, the Fighting Irish return the highest scoring by percentage of any ACC school.

(Photo of J'Vonne Hadley: MICHAEL CLUBB - SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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