The Louisville Cardinals and the short-handed Notre Dame Fighting Irish staged an epic battle Wednesday night at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Ky. Two Big East bubble teams - one of them distinctly on the good side of the divide, the other just about on its NCAA death bed - warred well into the night in one of college basketball's most famous venues. The drama and theater created by two desperate teams represented a moving and compelling piano recital, a flowing progression of well-struck notes and accurate phrasings, and an inspiring production that engrossed a national television audience.

And then the very last note of the piece got flubbed... badly.

Yeah, that's the best way to describe Louisville's 91-89 win over the gallant but gutted Fighting Irish, in a game that should seal Notre Dame's fate as an NIT team while keeping the Cards on track for another NCAA Tournament berth. The immediate storyline of this game is that UL avoided what would have been a catastrophic loss, but in a larger context, the thing to be remembered from this rousing hoops rendezvous is that it soared for 99 percent of the journey, only to strike a sour note at the very end.

First, the magnificent part of this marvelous hardwood mosaic: Notre Dame, without injured superstar Luke Harangody, spilled its tank on the Freedom Hall floor. The Irish played small ball to the best of their ability, spreading the floor and making Louisville chase on defense. Notre Dame hit 10 of 24 3-pointers and got to the line 29 times without the leading scorer in the Big East. The likes of Tim Abromaitis (29 points), Ben Hansbrough (10 of 12 at the foul line) and Tory Jackson (who got slowed down by what appeared to be cramps in overtime) all dove to the bucket for Notre Dame, who kept attacking a hesitant Cardinal defense. This made Wednesday's encounter the wondrously and unexpectedly competitive spectacle it turned out to be. There would be no UL blowout, even with Harangody - the most NBA-ready performer on either roster - sitting on the bench in street clothes.