As the Ivory Coast native stepped to the charity stripe and converted a free throw, pushing Louisville basketball’s lead to 58-46 with 8:11 remaining in regulation, a few members of the Fighting Irish’s student section decided to head for the exit.

They left at the right time; because it was all Cardinals from there as Pat Kelsey’s team clinched not only the program’s first 20-win season since 2019-20 but also a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament with a 75-60 victory. And that’s not all: U of L (20-6, 13-2 ACC) also snapped a four-game skid against Notre Dame (11-14, 5-9) with its first road win in the series in more than five years.

Louisville trailed by as many as six points at the 13:27 mark of the first half after allowing the Irish to convert 7 of 11 shots from the field. Then, the Cards ripped off a 13-0 run — with baskets from Noah Waterman, Terrence Edwards Jr., Chucky Hepburn and Khani Rooths — to seize control for good despite scoring only 10 points on 3-for-11 shooting across the final eight minutes and change of the period.