No. 13 Notre Dame at No. 7 Louisville: Storylines, how to watch

Jeff Greer, @jeffgreer_cj

No. 13 Notre Dame at No. 7 Louisville

Game time: 2:07 p.m., Saturday. Site: KFC Yum Center. Spread: Louisville opened as an eight-point favorite. Series: Louisville leads, 20-15, but lost the last meeting, 77-70, on Jan. 4 at Notre Dame. Television: CBS (Ian Eagle and Clark Kellogg). Internet live-stream: CBSSports.com and CBS Sports app. Radio: WKRD-790; SiriusXM 80.

PROJECTED STARTERS

LOUISVILLE (23-7, 11-6 ACC)

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Donovan Mitchell, 6-3, So., 4.7, 15.8

G-Quentin Snider, 6-2, Jr., 2.7, 12.5

F-Deng Adel, 6-7, So., 4.5, 11.8

F-Ray Spalding, 6-10, So., 5.7, 5.8

C-Anas Mahmoud, 7-0, Jr., 3.9, 5.9

Key reserves - Jaylen Johnson, F, 6-9, Jr., 8.4 ppg, 5.8 rpg; Mangok Mathiang, C, 6-10, R-Sr., 6.9 ppg, 6.0 rpg; V.J. King, F, 6-6, Fr., 6.1 ppg, 2.2 rpg; Tony Hicks, G, 6-1, Gr., 4.2 ppg, 1.2 rpg; Ryan McMahon, G, 6-0, R-Fr., 2.6 ppg, 0.5 rpg; David Levitch, G, 6-3, Sr., 2.1 ppg, 1.2 rpg.

NOTRE DAME (23-7, 12-5) 

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Matt Farrell, 6-2, Jr., 2.1, 14.3

G-Steve Vasturia, 6-6, Sr., 3.9, 13.6

G-Rex Pfleuger, 6-6, So., 2.5, 4.8 

F-V.J. Beachem, 6-8, Sr., 3.8, 15.4

F-Bonzie Colson, 6-5, Jr., 10.6, 16.9

Key reserves - TJ Gibbs, G, 6-2, Fr., 5.1 ppg, 1.5 rpg; Matt Ryan, F, 6-7, So., 3.5 ppg, 0.9 rpg; Martinas Geben, F, 6-9, Jr., 3.4 ppg, 3.7 rpg; Austin Torres, F, 6-7, Sr., 1.6 ppg, 1.6 rpg.

STORYLINES

A lot on the line: Every game means something all season in college basketball, but the games in February and March really start hitting home for people. And Saturday's tilt is no different. A win for Louisville would pull it back into a second-place tie with Notre Dame and could generate a bunch of tie-breaking scenarios, depending on other results around the league. Duke and Florida State are tied with Louisville for third. The Blue Devils play league-leading North Carolina on Saturday, and Florida State hosts Miami. A double bye in the ACC tournament is at stake, and Louisville would make things a lot easier for itself with a win over the Irish to split the season series.

Sink or swim: Look at the statistical differences between Louisville's wins and losses, and one thing becomes clear – as Donovan Mitchell and Deng Adel go, so goes Louisville. Mitchell, U of L's leading scorer, is 9 of 46 (19.6 percent) from 3-point range in the Cards' seven losses. Adel, U of L's third-leading scorer, is 2 of 21 from 3 in the six losses he has played in. (Adel was suspended for the Feb. 6 loss at Virginia.) But that also translates to the defensive end: When Louisville's two star sophomores are flying around, getting deflections and steals, challenging shots and getting rebounds, the Cards are far better off. 

Scouting Notre Dame: The Irish are the hottest team in the ACC right now, riding a six-game winning streak into Louisville. Granted, only one of those wins, at home against Florida State, came against a team in the top nine of the league standings. But Notre Dame is playing good basketball at the right time. The Irish went to a smaller lineup and stuck to their guns, averaging 1.15 points per possession over the six wins, an impressive figure. That spells trouble for a Louisville defense that struggled through February after a strong January: The Cards' opponents in February (and on March 1) averaged 1.09 points per possession, a noticeable increase from January.

Louisville's Deng Adel blows past a Syracuse player on his way to the basket. Adel scored 17 points in the game. Feb. 26, 2017.