Notre Dame

The West Jessamine girls' soccer season has come to an end. The Lady Colts lost to Notre Dame 4-1 in the state tournament semifinals. West trailed almost the whole game after allowing a goal in the first five minutes. The Pandas held a 1-0 lead untill the half and went up 2-0 in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Lady Colts got on the board in the 53rd minute on a goal by Danielle Chanda. Trailing 2-1, West suddenly had momentum but could not draw even. Notre Dame tacked on two goals in the final 13 minutes to win by three.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In Kentucky's first give games, freshmen Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin have been consistent double-figure scorers. The only time one didn't reach double figures came in the opening game when Poythress had eight points. But against Notre Dame here Thursday in a 64-50 loss, the two managed just three points each. Poythress played just 23 minutes after getting two fouls in the first five minutes and was 1-for-1 from the field with two rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.

LOUISVILLE — Kentucky found a will to win and a way to stop Notre Dame. The Wildcats handed the Irish their first loss of the season with a 72-58 triumph in the SEC-Big East Invitational Wednesday night during Kentucky’s yearly trek to Freedom Hall. The victory helped ease the disappointment of last week’s showing against North Carolina, which resulted in the team’s second loss of the season. Kentucky coach John Calipari noticed the fire that was lacking against the Tar Heels.

George Rogers Clark junior Vinny Zollo will make an official visit to Notre Dame Saturday. The Irish are among several programs showing interest in Zollo. Zollo originally committed to the University of Kentucky, but changed his mind after a coaching change at the school. Tennessee also is showing interest in Zollo. "Things are heating up on the recruiting trail," Zollo's mother Robyn Curry said this morning.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Sometimes it's hard to explain why a team loses a game. This wasn't one of them. Notre Dame had an older team playing at home in front of an inspired crowd and outplayed Kentucky all but the first five minutes to win 64-50 Thursday night. “We just got out competed from the start,” said UK¿senior guard Julius Mays, who had seven points in the first five minutes to help UK¿take a 12-6 lead. “We didn't play hard. They competed harder than we did.” He's right.

People and things. Jordan Aumiller The Boyle County junior will be trying to help the Rebels advance in the 45th District Tournament tonight. However, he got to think about his football future last weekend when he made an unofficial visit to Notre Dame. Aumiller got invited to Notre Dame's junior day last week, and Boyle coach Larry French said it was an offer he had to take. "He had a great time. It was not a scholarship offer, but it was a chance to be part of that atmosphere," French said.

Not having a star player might present some drawbacks for the University of Kentucky, but it also creates a dilemma for opposing coaches. "This is a tough group to prepare for in that they expect to win and have won a championship," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey Thursday. "On the road at Mississippi State and at Tennessee they were flat-out dead in the water, and they still figured they would win. "Preparing for that psyche is more difficult than any skill level out there.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky's first true road game is tonight at Notre Dame and UK¿coach John Calipari says he has “no idea” what he will get from his freshman dominated team. “I think this team, from what I'm seeing, what I know and what I don't know, it will be till February till we figure this out. Hopefully, we can go in good enough to win the number of games we have to be winning to stay alive, but we're learning. This will be another chance for us,” Calipari said Wednesday. He says playing Maryland in Brooklyn to open the season where the Terps had more fans than UK¿was not the same as playing at Notre Dame.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Luke Harangody had 30 points and 11 rebounds and Notre Dame hit 12 3-pointers to end a 10-game losing streak to Kentucky, beating the Wildcats 77-67 Wednesday night to advance to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals. Note: The Advocate-Messenger sports editor Larry Vaught was interviewed on South Bend's NewsTalk 960 WSBT prior to the University of Kentucky's NIT quarterfinal round game at Notre Dame Wednesday. Click here to hear the audio from that interview.

Editor's note: This story comes from Tom Noie, a writer for The Advocate's sister paper, the South Bend Tribune. Eased somewhat awkwardly into a leather chair inside the Notre Dame men's basketball lounge last week, senior captain Zach Hillesland carried the look of someone who had succumbed to eight months of college basketball's wear and tear. An ice bag was strapped to his sore left knee, which Hillesland had hyper-extended earlier in the night while trying to dunk an alley-oop pass during the first round National Invitation Tournament win over UAB. He still wore the specially-padded T-shirt to protect a seriously-bruised sternum after absorbing an elbow from Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet last month.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Sometimes it's hard to explain why a team loses a game. This wasn't one of them. Notre Dame had an older team playing at home in front of an inspired crowd and outplayed Kentucky all but the first five minutes to win 64-50 Thursday night. “We just got out competed from the start,” said UK¿senior guard Julius Mays, who had seven points in the first five minutes to help UK¿take a 12-6 lead. “We didn't play hard. They competed harder than we did.” He's right.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In Kentucky's first give games, freshmen Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin have been consistent double-figure scorers. The only time one didn't reach double figures came in the opening game when Poythress had eight points. But against Notre Dame here Thursday in a 64-50 loss, the two managed just three points each. Poythress played just 23 minutes after getting two fouls in the first five minutes and was 1-for-1 from the field with two rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky's first true road game is tonight at Notre Dame and UK¿coach John Calipari says he has “no idea” what he will get from his freshman dominated team. “I think this team, from what I'm seeing, what I know and what I don't know, it will be till February till we figure this out. Hopefully, we can go in good enough to win the number of games we have to be winning to stay alive, but we're learning. This will be another chance for us,” Calipari said Wednesday. He says playing Maryland in Brooklyn to open the season where the Terps had more fans than UK¿was not the same as playing at Notre Dame.

LEXINGTON - John Calipari says that freshman Archie Goodwin has solidified himself as Kentucky's point guard, but he will play sophomore Ryan Harrow at Notre Dame tonight to gauge where he is after missing the last five games due to illness and personal issues. “He's done good in practice, but to say that he's ready for that (against Notre Dame), I don't know yet. We'll see. I may throw him in that Notre Dame game just to see where he is. We're still learning. It's November. But we'll see,” Calipari said.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey thinks it will “be fun night and great atmosphere” when the Irish host Kentucky on Thursday night in the Big East/SEC Challenge. “For our players, it's the game they talked about all summer,” said Brey. “It will be a Big East atmosphere. The atmosphere of Syracuse last year. We have not played in that atmosphere at home this year. I will have to talk to our guys not to get out of character in the crazy atmosphere. We have got too excited before and I will have to address how to handle that, but these guys have played in some great home atmospheres.” One advantage Notre Dame could have over UK's freshman-dominated roster is experience.

Prior to West Jessamine's game against Notre Dame on Nov. 3, the last time West Jessamine had known defeat was Oct. 6, nearly a month before. Since that 1-0 loss in the regular-season finale against Tates Creek, the Lady Colts had rattled off six straight wins in do-or-die situations. Last Thursday, the Lady Colts' (19-7-2) run for a state championship came to an end in the cold rain at Dunbar High School in the semifinals of the girls' soccer state tournament. West lost to Notre Dame, 4-1. The Lady Colts' lone goal came in the 53rd minute.

The West Jessamine girls' soccer season has come to an end. The Lady Colts lost to Notre Dame 4-1 in the state tournament semifinals. West trailed almost the whole game after allowing a goal in the first five minutes. The Pandas held a 1-0 lead untill the half and went up 2-0 in the first 10 minutes of the second half. The Lady Colts got on the board in the 53rd minute on a goal by Danielle Chanda. Trailing 2-1, West suddenly had momentum but could not draw even. Notre Dame tacked on two goals in the final 13 minutes to win by three.

Get live updates from tonight's Notre Dame vs. West Jessamine girls' soccer game starting at 8 p.m. at Dunbar High School. The score updates can be found on The Journal's Facebook and Twitter pages. The Facebook page can be accessed at www.facebook.com/JessamineJournal , and you can follow The Journal on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thejj .

LOUISVILLE — When Kentucky lost to Connecticut in the Maui Invitational, coach John Calipari thought it was the “slap in the face” his team needed. When Kentucky lost Saturday to North Carolina, though, the coach said it “ripped my heart out” because he knew it was a game his team could have won. However, the UK coach feels much better about his team because it has learned from both losses — and proved that when it beat Notre Dane 72-58 here Wednesday night in the Big East/SEC Invitational in the blue-tinted Freedom Hall.

LOUISVILLE — Kentucky found a will to win and a way to stop Notre Dame. The Wildcats handed the Irish their first loss of the season with a 72-58 triumph in the SEC-Big East Invitational Wednesday night during Kentucky’s yearly trek to Freedom Hall. The victory helped ease the disappointment of last week’s showing against North Carolina, which resulted in the team’s second loss of the season. Kentucky coach John Calipari noticed the fire that was lacking against the Tar Heels.