North Carolina Closes Out Road Trip At Louisville

On Saturday ninth ranked North Carolina will closeout their four game road trip in the Bluegrass State where they will visit fifteenth ranked Louisville.

North Carolina comes into the game with a record of 16-4 while they’re 6-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference while Louisville comes into the game with a record of 16-5 while they’re 7-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

As for North Carolina’s previous game, they won on the road in Atlanta at Georgia Tech.

Johnson scored a game-high 22 points, including eight straight to open the second half, as No. 9 North Carolina defeated Georgia Tech 77-54 Tuesday night. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

North Carolina went on runs of 20-5 and 34-11 in the lopsided win. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Johnson and White, who scored 19 points, combined to make nine 3-pointers and the Tar Heels (16-4, 6-1 ACC) shot 13 for 27 from beyond the arc.
The performance comes one game after the Tar Heels made 16 of 34 3s in a 103-82 win over Virginia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets entered the game No. 2 in the nation in 3-point defense, allowing just a 26.5 percent conversion rate. North Carolina blitzed Georgia Tech from long distance. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

But North Carolina head coach Roy Williams wasn't ready to dream in front of reporters. Instead, Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner shed some light on his thinking. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

"Coach Williams told me after the game, he says, 'That was our best 10-minute stretch all year. If we play like that, we'll win the national championship,'" Pastner said after his team was outscored by 33 points from beyond the 3-point arc. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Tech shot 2 for 16 from long distance. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

"I think people are sleeping on them. I know they're ninth in the country, but nobody's really talking about them," Pastner said. "But they're really good and they're playing at a very high level." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Georgia Tech (11-10, 3-5) managed to muddy the game in the first half, at least in the paint with the big man tandem of Abdoulaye Gueye and center James Banks III anchoring their zone. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Carolina built a 31-24 halftime lead despite shooting 7 of 17, but the Tar Heels hit 5 of 12 from long distance and the Jackets connected on just 1 of 10. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

"Eight turnovers in the first half: I was very disappointed in that ...," Williams said. "To miss 32 shots (in the game) and get seven offensive rebounds, I was not pleased." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Gueye led the Jackets with 14 points, but Tech was never in the game after North Carolina made seven of its first eight shots in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers by Johnson and two more by White. He finished with 19 points on 5-of-9 3-point shooting. The freshman added a career-high eight assists. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Johnson, a graduate transfer from Pitt, hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to start the second half, and then dunked off a steal. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Eventually, the Tar Heels pulled Georgia Tech out of its preferred zone, but it was too late. North Carolina built a lead of 30 points when freshman Nassir Little dunked off a steal to push the margin to 65-35 with 10:18 left. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

"I think we had a pretty good game plan coming in," said Johnson, who didn't play the final 3:29. "Their zone, in practice we got a good look at it. ... We have a lot of guys that can score, and we have a lot of guys that can score a lot of points." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Georgia Tech fell behind 31-21 when Johnson made a pair of free throws with 1:10 left in the first half. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Tech made just 10 of 32 shots, and missed its first nine 3-point shots before Michael Devoe connected from beyond the arc with 56 seconds remaining. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/29/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-georgia-tech.aspx

Like North Carolina, Louisville won their previous game as they defeated Wake Forest on the road.

Jordan Nwora scored 20 points and No. 15 Louisville won its sixth straight game, routing Wake Forest 82-54 on Wednesday night. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/1/30/mens-basketball-nwora-no-15-louisville-rout-wake-forest-82-54.aspx

Dwayne Sutton added 17 points and 10 rebounds, Malik Williams finished with 13 points and Ryan McMahon had 12 points on four 3-pointers for the Cardinals (16-5, 7-1). “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/1/30/mens-basketball-nwora-no-15-louisville-rout-wake-forest-82-54.aspx

They shot 52 percent and led by 35 while keeping themselves even with three other one-loss teams - No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Virginia and No. 9 North Carolina - atop the Atlantic Coast Conference. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/1/30/mens-basketball-nwora-no-15-louisville-rout-wake-forest-82-54.aspx

Nwora, who averages 18 points, had 17 in the first half while Ryan McMahon hit three 3s in roughly 5 minutes. Behind those two - and 8-of-13 shooting from 3-point range in the half - Louisville needed less than 15 minutes to build a 20-point lead, and the Cardinals spent the rest of the game maintaining it. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/1/30/mens-basketball-nwora-no-15-louisville-rout-wake-forest-82-54.aspx

Brandon Childress scored 13 points, Jaylen Hoard finished with 11 and Chaundee Brown had 10 for the Demon Deacons (8-12, 1-7). “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/1/30/mens-basketball-nwora-no-15-louisville-rout-wake-forest-82-54.aspx

They shot a season-worst 27 percent and missed 13 of their first 14 3-pointers. They have lost seven of eight and are off to their fourth 1-7 start to league play in five years under coach Danny Manning. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/1/30/mens-basketball-nwora-no-15-louisville-rout-wake-forest-82-54.aspx

Tip-off is set for 2:00pm from the KFC Yum Center. The game will be televised on ESPN.