Irish topple No. 5 Louisville 90-57

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Luke Harangody had 32 points and 17 rebounds and Notre Dame shot 54 percent in a 90-57 victory over No. 5 Louisville on Thursday night that ended a seven-game losing streak.

The Fighting Irish (13-10, 4-7 Big East) improved to 3-7 against ranked opponents and beat Louisville for just the second time in their last 11 meetings. The 33-point victory is the largest ever for Notre Dame against a Big East opponent. It was the second loss in three games for the Cardinals (18-5, 9-2).

The Irish were in control from the start as Louisville made just one of its first 13 shots. The Irish made eight of their first 15, going ahead 17-4 when Kyle McAlarney scored on a reverse layup. The Cardinals flustered the Irish briefly with their full-court press, but the Irish finished the half on a 13-3 run to open a 37-19 lead, then opened the second half with a 7-3 spurt.

The Irish sealed the victory a 16-2 run midway through the second half when McAlarney sandwiched two 3-pointers around one by Ryan Ayers. McAlarney added a free throw on the last one for a four-point play that gave the Irish a 68-38 lead. Harangody then added two baskets.

It was the highest ranked opponent Notre Dame has beaten since a 99-85 win over No. 4 Alabama on Dec. 7, 2006.

For the first time in more than a month the Irish looked like the team they were expected to be when they rose as high as No. 7 in the rankings. They dived for loose balls, outhustled the Cardinals, outrebounded them 48-28 and their offense ran smoothly throughout the game.

It was the first time in 11 games the Irish shot better than 50 percent. Louisville had held seven of 10 Big East opponents to below 40 percent shooting and hadn’t allowed anyone to shoot better than 48 percent.