Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. North Carolina Tar Heels

The Cardinals are back in action after another extended pause due to COVID-19.

Louisville Cardinals (11-4, 6-3 ACC) at North Carolina Tar Heels (13-7, 7-5 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, February 20th at 6:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: WKRD 790/WHAS 840
- Betting Favorite: North Carolina -3.0
- All-Time Series: North Carolina leads 15-7
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 73-55 on Feb. 22, 2020 (KFC Yum! Center - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• F Quinn Slazinski (6-8, 215, So.)
• F Dre Davis (6-5, 220, Fr.)
• C Jae'Lyn Withers (6-8, 215, R-Fr.)
• G Carlik Jones (6-2, 185, Gr.)
• G David Johnson (6-5, 210, So.)

North Carolina

• F Armando Bacot (6-10, 240, So.)
• F Garrison Brooks (6-10, 240, Sr.)
• G Leaky Black (6-8, 195, Jr.)
• G Caleb Love (6-4, 195, Fr.)
• G Kerwin Walton (6-5, 205, Fr.)

Main Storylines

Here are the more significant storylines to follow ahead of Louisville's matchup with North Carolina: Points of Emphasis: Louisville vs. Syracuse

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Tar Heels, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape & Prediction: Louisville vs. North Carolina

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville will play its first game in 19 days and its first road game in 24 days as the Cardinals visit the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C. Louisville had expected to play its first game since Feb. 1 against Syracuse on Wednesday, but another positive test postponed the game less than five hours before tipoff.
• With about a month left in the regular season, Louisville has had eight ACC games postponed for COVID-related issues and has rescheduled just two of those (Feb. 1 vs. Georgia Tech, March 3 vs. Virginia Tech). The Cardinals have five scheduled conference games remaining prior to the ACC Tournament on March 9-13 and stand to miss six ACC games unless others are rescheduled.
• Louisville may be playing shorthanded at North Carolina due to those included in the latest positive test and contact tracing. The Cardinals were expecting to be without multiple individuals on Wednesday, and those coming off of isolation or quarantine protocols from the previous round of testing positive may be available on Saturday.
• Senior forward/center Malik Williams will make his season debut vs. North Carolina, per head coach Chris Mack.
• Louisville’s 31 ACC road wins in its seventh year in the league is the fourth-most in the ACC in that period. Louisville is one of just five teams with three ACC road wins this season.
• Carlik Jones, named to The Sporting News MidSeason All-America team and the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List recently, ranks third in the ACC in scoring (17.4 ppg) and assists (4.9 apg). Jones has 97 career double-figure scoring efforts, including the last 37 consecutive games (all 14 at UofL). He needs four points for 1,800 in his career. Jones has collected 15 steals in the last seven games.
• Louisville is 9-1 when outrebounding its opponent. UofL’s +7.2 rebounding advantage in conference games and its +6.1 margin on the season is second in the ACC. The Cardinals outrebounded Georgia Tech 56-39 on Monday.
• David Johnson is the only player in the ACC among the top 25 in both rebounding (6.1, 21st in ACC) and assists (3.4, ninth in the ACC), adding 13.1 points per game. He has made 22-of-47 three-pointers in his last nine games (.468; 6-of-11 vs. Georgia Tech) and has made a team-leading 29-of-68 threes on the season (.426). He made just five threes as a freshman.
• Samuell Williamson has averaged 11.0 points and 11.7 rebounds while shooting 60.9 percent from the field off the bench over the last three games, grabbing double-digit boards twice.
• Louisville is among the top defensive teams in the ACC, leading the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.401) and ranking third in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and second in three-point field goal defense (.309). UofL has held eight opponents below 40 percent accuracy from the field.
• Through its 15 games this season, Louisville has produced 16 runs of 8-0 or better, including runs of 8-0, 8-0 and 10-0 against Georgia Tech in its last game. A 16-0 run at Wake Forest was its best of the season. UofL has forced its opponents into 35 scoring droughts of three minutes or more, including stretches of 3:10, 3:21, 3:26 and 4:15 against Georgia Tech in its last game. UofL held Evansville scoreless for a season-best 8:36 stretch on Nov. 25.
• Louisville has won the rebounding battle in 10 games this year, including seven ACC games (56-39 advantage vs. Georgia Tech in its last game). Louisville is 9-1 in games when outrebounding its opponent. UofL’s +7.2 rebounding advantage in conference games is second in the ACC, and its +6.0 margin on the season is also second best. Louisville produced double-digit rebounding margins in three ACC games (vs. Pitt, Boston College, Georgia Tech). The Cardinals tied a much taller Florida State team 35-35, and Miami is the only ACC team to beat UofL on the boards. Louisville has faced three of the nation’s five tallest teams in the KenPom analytics this season, winning two of those three matchups (beat 3 Seton Hall and 5 Kentucky, lost to 2 Florida State).
• Louisville is among the top defensive teams in the ACC, leading the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.401) and ranking third in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and second in three-point field goal defense (.309). UofL held Duke, Georgia Tech and Pitt to their season-low scoring total and limited Clemson to its third-lowest. The Cardinals held Boston College (.333), Wake Forest (.368) and Georgia Tech (.324) to a season-low field goal percentage. UofL has limited its opponent to below 40 percent accuracy from the field on eight occasions this season (five under 35 percent). The Cardinals limited Kentucky to a season-low in scoring (59 points) and field goal percentage (.345). The Cardinals have held 13 ACC opponents under 60 points in Coach Chris Mack’s third season at Louisville (UofL is 11-2 in those games).

North Carolina

• UNC defeated Northeastern, 82-62, on Wednesday. Three freshmen – Day’Ron Sharpe (15), Kerwin Walton (14) and Walker Kessler (10) – scored in double figures, another freshman, Caleb Love, had nine assists, and senior Garrison Brooks had a season-high 13 rebounds to lead UNC to its sixth non-conference win in eight tries this season.
• Carolina is 7-0 at home this season – 4-0 in league play and 3-0 against non-conference foes. The Tar Heels’ five ACC losses, all on the road, have come against teams that are 28-6 at home this season (82.4 percent). That’s better than the winning percentage for ACC home teams which is 67.8 percent (59-28).
• KenPom ranks Carolina the 324th-most experienced team in the nation (out of 342 teams). Seven of UNC’s 11 rotation players are freshmen. Those freshmen have played 51.5 percent of all minutes played (2,059 of 4,000). Freshmen have made 43 starts this season, including 18 by Caleb Love, 12 by Kerwin Walton and 10 by RJ Davis. That’s the fifth most in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State, Kansas State and Duke.
• Freshmen have made 43 starts this season, including 18 by Caleb Love, 12 by Kerwin Walton and 10 by RJ Davis. That’s the fifth most in the country behind Kentucky, Washington State, Kansas State and Duke. Carolina has started the same lineup in each of the last nine games (Love, Walton, Black, Brooks and Bacot). UNC has used five different starting lineups this season.
• The Tar Heels are shooting 31.0 percent from three-point range this season, which is on pace to be the second lowest in school history. UNC has made 40 percent or better in five games this season and is 2-3 in those games, all of which have come on the road (wins at Miami and Duke; losses at Iowa, Georgia Tech and Florida State). Carolina has been outscored 210-102 from the three-point line in its seven losses this season.
• UNC has more offensive rebounds in 19 of 20 games this season (tied with Wake Forest). Carolina leads the nation in rebound margin (+11.0), is second in offensive rebounds (15.1 per game) and third in total rebounds per game (42.8 rpg) behind Buffalo and Coastal Carolina. Carolina is second to Houston in offensive rebound percentage. The Cougars grab 40.2 percent of their misses, while the Tar Heels grab 39.5 percent of theirs. 
• Carolina is averaging 16.5 second-chance points with a season-high 30 vs. Charleston, low of seven at Georgia Tech and 20 or more four times. The 16.5 points are the second-most second-chance points UNC has averaged in the last 10 seasons (17.6 in 2016-17).
• Carolina has never committed more turnovers than it had assists in 17 previous seasons under Roy Williams. The closest margin was in 2009-10, when UNC had 552 assists and 512 turnovers (plus 40). Through 20 games the Tar Heels have 303 assists and 289 turnovers (plus 14).
• Carolina has either led in the final 10 minutes, including two times when UNC led inside the final 3:30, or trailed by one possession in five of its seven losses season.

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