Cardinals Play at North Carolina on Saturday at Noon

GAME 16
Date: Jan. 12, 2019
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Site: Dean E. Smith Center, Chapel Hill, N.C. (21,750)
Television: ESPN - Dan Shulman, play-byplay; Jay Bilas, analyst; Maria Taylor, reporter.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst (XM channel 380, Internet 971)
Series History: Louisville trails 5-13 (4-1 in Louisville, 0-3 in Chapel Hill, 1-9 neutral)
Last Meeting: North Carolina 93, UofL 76 (Feb. 17, 2018 in KFC Yum! Center)
Officials: Mike Eades, Bill Covington, Jr., Tony Henderson
Next UofL Game: Jan. 16 vs. Boston College, KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ACC Regional Sports Networks/Fox Sports South in Louisville)

Louisville, ranked 30th in the NCAA Men's Basketball NET ratings through games of Jan. 9, plays its second straight on the road as the Cardinals visit the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C. on Saturday.

Louisville (10-5, 1-1 ACC) dropped its first ACC road game as the Cardinals fell 89-86 in overtime at Pittsburgh on Jan. 9. The Cardinals committed a season-high 18 turnovers and allowed the Panthers to shoot 52.2 percent from the field, second-highest for a UofL opponent this season. Christen Cunningham scored a season-high 23 points and handed out five assists to lead the Cardinals, making 9-of-11 field goals.

The Cardinals are very balanced on the offensive end, with five players averaging over eight points. Sophomore Jordan Nwora leads the Cardinals in in scoring and rebounding with 17.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Christen Cunningham is second on the team in scoring with 10.6 points and leads the team with 48 assists on the year. Dwayne Sutton ranks third on the team in scoring with 9.5 points along with 6.3 rebounds per game. Steven Enoch averages 9.0 points per game while Ryan McMahon is averaging 8.3 points per game.

North Carolina (12-3, 2-0 ACC), ranked 12th in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls, has won six of its last seven games, including a 90-82 victory at NC State in its last game on Jan. 8. All five Tar Heels starters scored in double-figures and three had double-doubles, led by Luke Maye's 21 points and 11 rebounds.

North Carolina is third in the nation in rebounding margin (+11.5), is third in assists per game (19.7) and fifth in scoring offense (89.9). Six Tar Heel players are averaging over eight points a game, led by Cameron Johnson (16.2 ppg). UNC is No. 5 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 6 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI), No. 8 in the NET rankings and No. 6 by Ken Pomeroy through Jan. 9.

Louisville trails 5-13 in its series against North Carolina, but has won two of the last five. The Tar Heels won 93-76 in Louisville last season (2-17-18) as Deng Adel led the Cardinals with 20 points and six assists off the bench. Four of the meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament, including twice in regional finals.

CARD FILES

In his last six games, Christen Cunningham has shot 61.5 percent from the field – including 61.9 percent from the three-point line (13-of-21) -- while averaging 15.0 points and 3.8 assists. He scored a season-high 23 points and handed out five assists at Pittsburgh in his last game.
Louisville has made 18 more free throws (302-of-395, .765) than its opponents have attempted (193-of-284). Louisville is ninth in the nation in free throw attempts per field goal attempts (395/853, 46.3 percent) and is fifth in the nation with 25.2 percent of its points coming from free throws. UofL is 15th in the nation in free throw percentage.
UofL has scored over 80 points in nine of its 15 games (79.8 ppg) and the Cardinals are 26^th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy. UofL's 90 points vs. Miami was its second-highest total of the season.
After committing a season-low seven turnovers vs. Miami, Louisville had a season-high 18 turnovers at Pittburgh, leading to 29 Pitt points. UofL has had 10 or fewer turnovers in seven games.
With 14 offensive rebounds against Pittsburgh in its last game, Louisville has pulled down 10 or more rebounds off the offensive glass nine times this season, including each of the last six games.
Louisville's 2019 signing class is ranked second in the nation by ESPN.com, fifth by Rivals.com and fifth by 247sports.com.
Louisville achieved a collective 3.352 grade point average for the 2018 fall semester, with 11 of 14 student-athletes earning a 3.0 or better GPA (20 of the last 21 semesters with at least a 3.0 team GPA). Uof L has produced a league-best 25 All-ACC Academic selections over its four years in the ACC.

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Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Christen Cunningham

Steven Enoch

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Dwayne Sutton

University of Louisville Athletics