North Carolina Opens The Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament With Louisville

On Thursday North Carolina who is a second seed in this weeks Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament in Charlotte will open up the tournament in the Quarterfinals against seventh seed Louisville.

North Carolina comes into the game with a record of 26-5 while they finished the regular season in the Atlantic Conference with a record of 16-2. while Louisville comes into the game with a record of 20-12 while they finished the regular season with a record of 10-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Unlike Louisville, North Carolina has yet to play a game in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. As for how they finished the regular season they swept their tobacco road rival Duke.

Freshman Coby White scored 21 points and third-ranked North Carolina hung on late to beat fourth-ranked Duke 79-70 on Saturday to clinch a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Senior Kenny Williams scored a season-high 18 points for the Tar Heels (26-5, 16-2), who led by 15 with about 6 1/2 minutes left but had to hold off a rally from their fiercest rival -- who played yet again without injured freshman star Zion Williamson. Duke lost starting big man Marques Bolden early in this one, too. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

The Tar Heels bumbled their way to the finish after building their big lead, letting the Blue Devils (26-5, 14-4) get as close as 75-70 on RJ Barrett's 3-pointer with 2:19 left. Ultimately UNC held on, earning its first regular-season sweep of the Blue Devils since 2009. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Barrett scored 26 points to lead the Blue Devils, who shot just 23 percent after halftime. “according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211794802&DB_OEM_ID=4200

As for how the two meeting between North Carolina and Louisville went during the regular season, North Carolina and Louisville split the meetings with the first going to Louisville when they lost in Chapel Hill on January 12th.

Roy Williams suffered his worst home loss in 16 seasons with North Carolina as Louisville stunned the 12th-ranked Tar Heels 83-62 on Saturday. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/12/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-louisville.aspx

Connecticut transfer Steven Enoch had season highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinals. Dwayne Sutton added 17 points and 10 rebounds while flirting with at triple-double, and Louisville (11-5, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back from a frustrating loss to long-struggling Pittsburgh. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/12/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-louisville.aspx

The Cardinals jumped on the Tar Heels in the opening minutes and led nearly the entire game, turning a 43-34 halftime lead into a lopsided margin. Louisville shot 52 percent, made 11 3-pointers and finished with a 40-31 edge on the glass against one of the nation's best rebounding teams. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/12/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-louisville.aspx

Kenny Williams scored 12 points for the Tar Heels (12-4, 2-1), who shot 35 percent — including 3 of 22 on 3-pointers — and committed 11 second-half turnovers. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/1/12/mens-basketball-tar-heels-vs-louisville.aspx

The second meeting of the season however, North Carolina avenged their earlier loss with a win in the Bluegrass State.

The Tar Heels controlled rebounding, the inside and just about everything else Saturday to show how far they have come since their previous meeting with the Cardinals. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

Luke Maye had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Cameron Johnson finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, helping North Carolina avenge a blowout loss with a 79-69 victory over Louisville. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

"The biggest thing for us was to come out early and be ready to go," Maye said. "We didn't do that last time and I thought we did that today." The victory came three weeks after UNC was beaten by 21 points by Louisville, its worst defeat at home under coach Roy Williams. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

The Tar Heels (17-4, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won the rematch and ended Louisville's six-game winning streak. They set the tone with a 22-4 first-half run over 8:34 that put them up 34-19 and gave them a lead they never lost against one of the league's co-leaders. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

Johnson and Maye had 12 points apiece in the first half before Garrison Brooks (12 points) and Kenny Williams (10 points) contributed after halftime. UNC dominated the boards 49-32 in its fifth consecutive victory. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

"That was really big," Roy Williams said. "Four guys in double figures, you like that. Two turnovers the second half, and the rebound margin is probably the game." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

The Cardinals (16-6, 7-2) cut a 19-point deficit to 58-49 midway through the second half but came no closer. Dwayne Sutton had 19 points and Christen Cunningham 15 with nine assists for Louisville. “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

The Cardinals' loss came three days after a 28-point victory at Wake Forest that they had hoped to follow by sweeping the Tar Heels. Instead, they and the crowd were left wondering what happened after their second home loss this season. Louisville lost to Kentucky 71-58 on Dec. 29 “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

"We didn't come out with much fire," Louisville coach Chris Mack said. "It was a great environment, and to essentially end the half with no offensive rebounds, let Carolina dismantle us on the glass, I can't tell you how disappointed I am in that effort alone." “according to https://goheels.com/news/2019/2/2/mens-basketball-tar-heels-at-louisville.aspx

As for how Louisville advanced to the quarterfinals they beat Notre Dame in the second round.

Jordan Nwora had 24 points and nine rebounds, and Louisville notched its 20th win of the season defeating Notre Dame 75-53 on Wednesday in the second round of the ACC Tournament. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-louisville-tops-notre-dame-75-53-in-the-second-round-of-the-acc-tournament.aspx

Ryan McMahon added 12 points and Steven Enoch had 10 for the Cardinals (20-12), who'll face No. 3 North Carolina for the third time this season in the quarterfinals on Thursday night. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-louisville-tops-notre-dame-75-53-in-the-second-round-of-the-acc-tournament.aspx

The Cardinals blew open a nine-point game in the second half with a 22-7 run to build a 24-point lead.

Louisville's length clearly bothered Notre Dame as the Irish were held to 27 percent shooting from the field and 11 percent from 3-point range. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-louisville-tops-notre-dame-75-53-in-the-second-round-of-the-acc-tournament.aspx

Louisville also dominated on the glass, outrebounding Notre Dame 50-38. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-louisville-tops-notre-dame-75-53-in-the-second-round-of-the-acc-tournament.aspx

T.J. Gibbs led the Irish (14-19) with 21 points. The Cardinals held John Mooney, Notre Dame's leading scorer, to seven points on 3-of-18 shooting.”according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-louisville-tops-notre-dame-75-53-in-the-second-round-of-the-acc-tournament.aspx

The seventh-seeded Cardinals wasted no time jumping on the 15th-seeded Irish, bolting to a 28-12 lead behind 12 points from Nwora and a rim-rattling put-back dunk from Enoch - one of many dunks from the high-flying Cardinals. Still, Notre Dame cut the lead to nine at halftime despite missing its final 12 3-point shots of the first half. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-louisville-tops-notre-dame-75-53-in-the-second-round-of-the-acc-tournament.aspx

Nate Laszewski returned to the Notre Dame starting lineup after injuring his back and missing the second half of the Irish's first round win over Georgia Tech, but was held scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting from the field. “according to https://gocards.com/news/2019/3/13/mens-basketball-louisville-tops-notre-dame-75-53-in-the-second-round-of-the-acc-tournament.aspx

Tip-off is set for 7:00pm from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte that is home to the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA. The game will be televised on ESPN and Raycom Sports.