Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. North Carolina Tar Heels
North Carolina Tar Heels (8-5, 1-0 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (8-5, 1-1 ACC)
- Tipoff: Wednesday, January 1 at 6:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: North Carolina -1.0
- All-Time Series: North Carolina leads 20-7
- Last Meeting: North Carolina won 86-70 on Dec. 14, 2019 (Louisville, Ky.)
Projected Starting Lineups
Louisville
- G Chucky Hepburn (6-2, 190, Sr.)
- G J'Vonne Hadley (6-6, 215, 5th)
- G/FTerrence Edwards Jr. (6-6, 205, 5th)
- F Noah Waterman (6-11, 230, 6th)
- C James Scott (6-11, 220, So.)
North Carolina
- G Elliot Cadeau (6-1, 180, So.)
- G R.J. Davis (6-0, 180, Gr.)
- G Ian Jackson (6-4, 190, Fr.)
- G/F Drake Powel (6-6, 195, Fr.)
- F Jalen Washington (6-10, 235, Jr.)
Comparison
See how the Cardinals stack up against the Tar Heels, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. North Carolina
Game Notes
Louisville
- Louisville’s five losses have all come to teams now ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Duke, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 24 Ole Miss . As of Dec. 30, those teams are a combined 56-6.
- Senior guard Reyne Smith was named ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 23 for his 27-point performance at Florida State. It was just the third time in the program’s 11 years in the ACC that Louisville has had multiple ACC Player of the Week awards as Chucky Hepburn also earned that title on Dec. 2.
- Against Florida State on Dec. 21, Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr. both logged eight assists apiece; it was the first Louisville game to have two Cardinals log at least eight assists each in the same game since Peyton Siva and Gorgui Deng both had eight against Syracuse in the 2013 Big East Tournament championship game.
- Louisville played five ranked opponents before the New Year. The Cardinals have the 18th best strength of schedule according to KenPom as of Dec. 30.
- Louisville’s 89-61 victory over No. 14/15 Indiana in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis was Louisville’s first win over a ranked team since beating No. 19/20 Virginia Tech 73-71 on Jan. 6, 2021. It’s the highest ranked opponent the Cards have beat since beating No. 3 Duke 79-73 on Jan. 18, 2020.
- In the win over Indiana, UofL’s Chucky Hepburn logged 16 points, 10 assists and seven steals. He’s the first DI player with at least those marks since Markquis Nowell of Kansas State did it against West Virginia with 23 points on Dec. 31, 2022.
- As of Dec. 31, Louisville is fourth in the country in 3-point attempts per game (32.5) and 44th in 3-pointers per game (9.7). Chucky Hepburn is eighth in the country in steals per game at 2.77 and sixth in total steals with 36. Reyne Smith is 16th in the country in 3-pointers per game at 3.38, sixth in total 3-point attempts (118) and 13th in total 3-pointers made (44).
- Against Winthrop on Nov. 22, Louisville logged 10 blocks, including seven in the first half. Sophomore James Scott blocked five on his own. The 10 total, seven in a half and Scott’s five were all the first time those feats happened for the Cardinals since March 7, 2018 against Florida State.
- Fifth-year senior forward Kasean Pryor tore his ACL and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
- Junior guard Koren Johnson tore his labrum in his shoulder and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
- Louisville’s 48-point season-opening victory over Morehead State on Nov. 4 was Louisville’s largest margin of victory since a 104-54 win vs. Southern on Nov. 13, 2018, and largest in a season opener since a 92-38 win vs. South Alabama on Nov. 18, 2001.
- Louisville’s 48 first-half points against Bellarmine on Nov. 19 were the most since leading Eastern Kentucky 50-32 at halftime on Dec. 14, 2019.
- In its season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 4, the Cardinals held the Eagles to a 23.1% clip from the floor. It’s the lowest field goal percentage of any Louisville opponent since Nov. 13, 2015 when the Cards held Samford to 21.0%.
- Chucky Hepburn is the first Cardinal since Russ Smith (2011-12) to log three games of six or more steals in a single season. He grabbed six against No. 12 Tennessee and West Virginia and seven against No. 14/15 Indiana.
- The Cardinals are one of the more experienced teams in the country this season. Between the 17-man roster, the average amount of years in college basketball is 3.0 years with just two underclassmen on the roster
- Louisville has just two underclassmen in freshman Khani Rooths and sophomore James Scott. Louisville is one of just 11 schools in DI that has two or fewer underclassmen on their roster, and the only Power Four school in that list.
- Louisville returns just a single letterwinner to its roster in walk-on Aidan McCool. The program returns virtually 0% in all statistical categories from 2023-24. Louisville is one of five programs in the country returning 0% in scoring, rebounding and minutes played; the Cardinals are joined by DePaul, IU Indy, Iona and Kentucky.
North Carolina
- The Tar Heels are 1-1 on the road this season, losing by three points at No. 1 Kansas and beating Hawai'i.
- Carolina is coming off a 97-81 home win over Campbell on Sunday evening. Ian Jackson
(26) and RJ Davis (23) led five Tar Heels in double figures. Carolina shot 57.1% from the floor, including 26 of 35 from two-point range (74.3%), delivered 20 assists and committed only seven turnovers. - Davis made a season-high five three-pointers and surpassed Marcus Paige for the most 3FGs in UNC history. Davis has 303, four more than Paige made from 2012-16.
- Davis also moved past Jeff Lamp and Mike Gminski into 10th in ACC history in career scoring. He needs 15 points to pass Armando Bacot for second in UNC and ninth in ACC scoring.
- This is Carolina's fourth game ever on January 1. UNC lost at Butler in 1929 and at Maryland in 1943 and defeated Monmouth in Chapel Hill in 2012, Hubert Davis' first season as an assistant with the Tar Heels.
- The Tar Heels are 20-7 all-time against Louisville, including 4-5 in Louisville (4-3 vs. the Cards in the KFC Yum! Center).
- UNC has beaten Louisville in each of the last five games.
- Carolina has won two in a row and four of the last five in the KFC Yum! Center.
- Carolina won the only matchup last season, 86-70, in Chapel Hill. RJ Davis had 21 points and six assists, Armando Bacot scored 19 and Jae'Lyn Withers recorded his first double-double as a Tar Heel with 15 points and 10 boards. Withers played the previous three seasons at Louisville.
- Ian Jackson was named ACC Rookie of the Week for his 26-point performance on December
29 against Campbell. The 26 points were a season high for Jackson, one game following his 24-point game in Madison Square Garden the Tar Heels' 76-74 win over18th-ranked UCLA. - Sunday's win over Campbell was Carolina's final regular-season non-conference game of the season.
- The Tar Heels went 7-5 in non-conference play.
- Through December 29, the Tar Heels were one of three schools ranked in the top 50 in the NET that had played seven Quad 1 games.
- With 12:35 to play, the Tar Heels trailed UCLA, 59-43, after the Bruins' Tyler Bilodeau made three straight three-pointers. The Tar Heels pulled within five with 7:06 remaining, within one 90 seconds later and finally drew even at 72 on Jalen Washington's second-chance bucket
with 1:32 to play. Carolina took its first and only lead of the second half with 13.6 seconds to go on a pair of free throws by RJ Davis. - Carolina has scored 146 more points in the second half than in the first (11.2 more per game).
- The Tar Heels have scored more points in the second half in each of the last 12 games. The win over Elon in the season opener is the only game to date Carolina scored more points in the first half (51-39).
- The Tar Heels are averaging 37.3 first-half points (while allowing 39.0) and 48.5 in the second half (allowing 39.5).
- Carolina has shot a higher field goal percentage in the second half than it did in the first in 12 of the first 13 games (only against Georgia Tech did UNC shoot better in the first half).
- RJ Davis is the third-leading scorer in Carolina's illustrious history with 2,333 points. He broke the UNC career record for three-pointers (303) and has the highest free throw percentage ever by a Tar Heel (85.8%).
(Photo of Noah Waterman: Jordan Prather - Imagn Images)
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