What channel is Notre Dame basketball vs. Louisville on Sunday? Time, TV, prediction

Now it gets interesting, if interesting is defined by the degree of difficulty for Notre Dame basketball.

On Sunday, for the first time since January 11, Notre Dame (11-13; 5-8) plays an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent with a league record of .500 or better. That last happened five weeks ago against Duke (13-1 heading into this weekend). It hasn’t happened at home since January 4 against North Carolina (now 7-6).

Noie: Remembering a Notre Dame basketball legend who left us too soon

It’s going to happen plenty down the home stretch. Of Notre Dame’s final seven games, five are against teams that have league records of .500 or better. Notre Dame sputtered to make a move against the sub-.500 teams (5-6) in the ACC; let’s see how it fares against the better teams.

Again, interesting.

What time does Notre Dame vs. Louisville start?

What TV channel is Notre Dame vs. Louisville on? Streaming?

What is the series history between Notre Dame and Louisville?

In a series that started in 1952 at the Jefferson (Kentucky) County Armory and a 65-59 Louisville win, the Cardinals lead 26-19. The Irish are 11-8 at home and 7-5 as ACC colleagues.

Games between these teams went one stretch when overtime was the norm. From 2009 to 2013, six of eight, including four in a row, went to at least one overtime. That included two double overtime games and the five-overtime contest in Purcell Pavilion on February 9, 2013, a 104-101 Irish win, that remains the longest regular-season game in Big East history.

These teams last played an overtime game in 2018, an 82-74 Louisville win in double overtime.

Notre Dame has won four straight in the series after losing six in a row. The Irish won the only game last season, 72-50, at KFC Yum! Center. This is the only regular-season meeting.

Keep an eye on …

Louisville (19-6; 12-2)

There may not be a better transfer portal addition anywhere in the country than senior guard Chucky Hepburn, who has helped the Cardinals go from nowhere to somewhere seemingly overnight.

Driving this Louisville bus back to the NCAA Tournament for its first appearance since 2019, Hepburn ranks 13^th in the league in scoring (15.0 ppg.), second in assists (6.2), fifth in free throw percentage (.846), first in steals (2.33), 10^th in assist/turnover ratio (2.26) and 13^th in minutes (33.6).

It’s crazy that the 6-foot-2, 190-pound native of Omaha, Nebraska decided after three solid seasons at Wisconsin, where he scored 1,103 points with 313 assists and 162 steals, was a two-time All-Big Ten honorable mention choice and started every game (103), to start over.

Louisville got good in a hurry for myriad reasons. Hepburn, pushing hard for first-team All-ACC honors, is at the top of the list.

Notre Dame (11-13; 5-8)

Other Irish score more than senior guard Julian Roper (1.8 ppg.). Other Irish rebound more than Roper (2.5 rpg.). Others assist more than Roper (0.8 apg.) play more (15.6 mpg.) and shoot higher percentages from the field, from 3, and the foul line than Roper (.326, .227, .643).

No Irish may be more important in holding everything on the floor together than the 6-4, 220-pound Detroit native. He defends. He moves the ball. He believes. Roper has played double figures in minutes in six of the last seven games, including 21 in Wednesday’s double overtime win at Boston College, a game that saw him ejected after a Flagrant Two foul on Donald Hand while battling for a loose ball.

Roper gives the Irish an edge that they don’t get when he’s not in the game. He may not score much or rebound much or assist much, but he is still an important guy.

How about a Notre Dame vs. Louisville prediction?

Notre Dame 78, Louisville 75: Dare we go down this turn-the-corner road again with Notre Dame? The last time the Irish won an ACC game (January 28 against Georgia Tech) it was supposed to slingshot them into another gear. Instead, a three-game losing streak surfaced.

Notre Dame returns off Wednesday’s double-overtime win at Boston College feeling good. Three straight home games await − prime time to make another move. Will the Irish take that step and surprise against the league’s most surprise team? Isn’t it kind of time for this program?