CRAWFORD | No Pryor restraint: Forward returns to spark Louisville past Notre Dame, 76-65 | Sports
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — They won by 11, but this one had all the charm of a soggy sandwich. Louisville shot 22 percent from three-point range, spent much of the night bobbing between flat and flustered, and let a struggling Notre Dame team hang around longer than a winter storm snow pile.
Still, there are games you remember for brilliance, and there are games you remember for effort. If Louisville’s 76–65 win over Notre Dame is remembered at all, it should be for Kasean Pryor. Not for a box score. For a heartbeat.
Pryor had been missing for three games. Not physically—though his knees might’ve argued otherwise—but from the rotation, the rhythm, the reckoning. And then Wednesday night, he was back. Ten points. Five rebounds. Fifteen minutes that felt like intravenous energy for a Louisville team stuck in second gear.
He dove on the floor. Tapped loose balls into teammates’ hands. Scored the bucket that stopped a five-minute, 10-shot field goal drought and started the 12–0 run that flipped a nervy second half into a soft landing.
Louisville | Kentucky | Indiana | Eric Crawford
Louisville coach Pat Kelsey praised Pryor’s attitude after the game. Kelsey said he’d ramped up his practices over the past two weeks, but still hadn’t gotten into games. He didn’t complain or sulk. But Louisville needed him on Wednesday when J’Vonne Hadley couldn’t go after a hard fall in practice. Hadley played for three minutes, but couldn’t play more.
“Kasean just played with that reckless abandon that I love to see out of him. He’s had a tough run of it coming off of a tough injury, just the way the chips have fallen this season,” Kelsey said. ” … J’Vonne Hadley is a backbone of our team and Khani is just blossoming before our eyes. It’s made it tough for Kasean to crack the lineup. But we call his number and he goes in and plays a phenomenal game for us.”
It wasn’t just him. Sophomore Khani Rooths, one game after making his return from a long illness, delivered a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double. He chased down missed shots like they’d wronged his family. And with Pryor, gave Louisville just enough muscle to out-rebound the Irish by 11, outscore them 40–22 in the paint, and wear them down the old-fashioned way.
Notre Dame? They made 11 threes, shot 40 percent from deep, and still couldn’t scare a full house. Louisville had the deeper bench (33–14 edge), the more forceful effort, and just enough juice in a late second-half burst to lead by 19 before exhaling.
Notre Dame was led by Cole Certa, a sharp-shooting guard who grew up a Louisville fan and whose mother, Kim, played at Male High School. He finished with 18 points and hit five of Notre Dame’s threes.
Isaac McKneely led Louisville with 13 points, including four three-pointers. Ryan Conwell and Sananda Fru chipped in 12 apiece. But it was a night where the stat sheet took a backseat to sweat equity.
And this much is certain: Pryor may not be fully back. But Tuesday, he reminded Louisville what he can be. He looked back to his old self.
Now, winners of two straight, the Cardinals (16–6, 6–4 ACC) will try for their first three-game winning streak since Thanksgiving when they visit Wake Forest on Saturday.
It may not have been pretty. But in February, beauty takes a backseat to momentum.
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