Irish attempt to stop the bleeding against fifth-ranked Cardinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/12/2009 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Louisville attempt to keep pace in the Big East standings, as they travel to South Bend for a conference showdown with Notre Dame.

Rick Pitino's Cardinals won their first eight league affairs before suffering their lone defeat, a humbling 68-51 loss against top-ranked Connecticut last week. To its credit, the team responded with a 60-47 victory at St. John's last weekend. The win improved the Cardinals to 9-1 in league play, just two games behind UConn (11-1) in the win column.

The Irish looked like they could vie for a conference crown early on. However, that was before league play actually began. Since then, Notre Dame has taken it on the chin and is currently mired in a miserable seven-game losing streak. The team took a break from conference play last weekend, but the result was the same, as Notre Dame was crushed at UCLA, 89-63.

This is the 24th all-time meeting between these two teams, with Louisville holding a 15-8 advantage. The Cardinals have won 10 of the 11 meetings at home, but are just 4-4 in South Bend.

The Cardinals actually trailed St. John's by three points at the half, by erupted for 41 second-half points to earn the victory. The team had a tough time with consistency at the offensive end, finishing the game with a .385 shooting percentage, hampered by a .176 effort from long range. Jerry Smith was exempt from the poor shooting, as he hit 4-of-7 from the floor and 11- of-11 from the free-throw line to pace the team with 21 points. Earl Clark was the only other Cardinal in double digits, finishing with 12 points. This is not an offensive-minded team to begin with, so the struggles at that end of the floor weren't something new. Louisville has done it this season with stingy defensively play, holding foes to just 60.0 ppg, on under 40 percent shooting (.383). In addition, the Cardinals hold a +4.2 rebounding margin and are forcing 16.5 turnovers per game. Clark and Terrence Williams are tied for the team-lead in scoring at 13.0 ppg. Both are getting it done on the boards as well, with Williams grabbing 9.0 rpg and Clark coming in at 8.5. Freshman center Samardo Samuels (12.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg) completes a potent frontcourt.

The Irish were held to a mere .397 shooting and All-American Luke Harangody was completely neutralized, as he finished with a mere five points on a horrific 2-of-12 shooting. In addition, the almost automatic double-double performer was held to a single rebound, as he was double-teamed all game long by the Bruins. The team did get 17 points from Tory Jackson and 16 from Kyle McAlarney, but it wasn't nearly enough to keep things competitive in Los Angeles. The lack of offense was a bit of an anomaly, as Notre Dame has shown the ability to score points in bunches this year, averaging a steady 78.7 ppg. Harangody has been unstoppable for the most part down low and continues to lead the team in both scoring (24.3 ppg) and rebounding (12.6 rpg). McAlarney is a perfect complement with his long range acumen, putting up 15.8 ppg thanks in large part to his 44.7 percent from behind the arc (84-of-188). Jackson and fellow guard Ryan Ayers give the team two more perimeter threats at 10.9 and 10.2 ppg, respectively.

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Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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