FORT WAYNE – When: 9 p.m. today
Where: Purcell Pavilion, South Bend
Records: No. 25 Notre Dame 18-5, 6-4 Big East; No. 11 Louisville 19-4, 7-3
TV: ESPN
Radio: 1480 AM
Notre Dame leaders: Jack Cooley (14.8 ppg); Cooley (11.3 rpg); Eric Atkins (6.1 apg)
Louisville leaders: Russ Smith (18.2 ppg); Gorgui Dieng (9.8 rpg); Peyton Siva (6.1 apg)
Key matchup: The play of the guards will be the biggest factor in today’s game. Smith, a 6-foot junior, and Siva, a 6-foot senior, are the Cardinals’ leading scorers with Siva averaging 10.6 points, and the two have combined for 99 steals this season. Notre Dame’s Atkins, a 6-2 junior, and Jerian Grant, a 6-5 junior, are second and third in scoring for the Irish with Grant averaging 12.7 points and Atkins 11.7. They have combined for 66 steals and average only 4.7 turnovers.
The skinny: ESPN’s “College GameDay” returns to Notre Dame for a basketball game for the first time since the Irish lost to Connecticut on Jan. 24, 2009. … The Irish and Cardinals have alternated wins over their last seven games with four of the last five games going to overtime and two of those games going to double overtime. … Louisville leads the series 18-11.
