SOUTH BEND, Ind. _ Steve Vasturia fell as he attempted a fadeaway shot. After the ball went in, he jumped and chest-bumped teammate Bonzie Colson.
Vasturia had just set a career high for points _ and provided a little breathing room for No. 23 Notre Dame in its 77-70 upset of No. 9 Louisville on Wednesday at Purcell Pavilion.
Vasturia finished with 24 points, and Matt Farrell matched his career high with 22.
Colson had 18 points and 14 rebounds, his ninth double-double of the season. He made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:36 remaining to give Notre Dame a 69-68 lead.
Farrell made two free throws with 1:05 left to extend the lead before Vasturia made his tough shot with 19 seconds left to ice it.
Notre Dame (13-2, 2-0 ACC) won its fourth consecutive game. Donovan Mitchell led Louisville (12-3, 0-2) with 20 points.
Vasturia had come through in crunch time just four days earlier against Pittsburgh. His 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left in overtime was the difference in a 78-77 victory over the Panthers.
"It's just staying confident out there," Vasturia said Monday. "I'm never going to lose confidence in myself. If stuff doesn't go your way, you just have to keep pushing through."
The Pitt game served as a bounce-back performance after an inconsistent stretch for Vasturia. He had just three points on 1-of-8 shooting against Purdue on Dec. 17. Two days later, he scored seven points against Colgate.
Vasturia returned to double figures with 11 points against St. Peter's on Dec. 28. He fought through foul trouble to finish strong against the Panthers.
"We have some fearless guys who want to take big shots and make plays," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "He's a big-shot maker, he's a big-shot taker. He wants to take it.
"He's a guy that will rise to the occasion and can shake off 32 minutes of average basketball because he's so poised."
Saturday's late-game heroics started at the foul line. Vasturia's two free throws with 25 seconds left sent the game to overtime. He scored 10 of the team's final 12 points and got the assist on the other basket.
"The guy has made more big shots in his career. You just have to keep coming back to him," Brey said. "I really thought when he got a clean look, I would have been shocked if it didn't go down. Because I've seen him make so many big ones. Great mental toughness because he really wasn't flowing."
It's a mindset the Irish will need throughout the conference season.
"I said after the (loss to) Purdue, 'We'll get one back if we can learn,' " Brey said. "I thought we really did learn from things we couldn't do against Villanova and Purdue.
"Hopefully something to grow on in this crazy league."
