Cardinals Host North Carolina on Saturday Afternoon

GAME 22
Date: Feb. 2, 2019
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (143-22 in 9th year)
Television: ESPN - Mike Couzens, play-by-play; Chris Spatola, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirus channel 78, XM 210, Internet 965)
Series History: Louisville trails 6-13 (4-1 in Louisville, 1-3 in Chapel Hill, 1-9 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 83, North Carolina 62 (Jan. 12, 2019 in Chapel Hill, N.C.)
UL National Ranking: 15th Associated Press, 16th USA Today
Officials: Ted Valentine, Bert Smith, Earl Walton
Next UofL Game: Feb. 4 at Virginia Tech, Blacksburgh, Va., 7 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Louisville, ranked 15th by AP and 16^th in the USA Today poll, opens the month of February with its lone home game in a four game stretch as the Cardinals face No. 9/10 North Carolina in the KFC Yum! Center on Saturday.

Louisville won its sixth straight and 10th in the last 12 games as the Cardinals prevailed 82-54 at Wake Forest on Wednesday. Jordan Nwora scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Dwayne Sutton produced his fifth career double-double with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. UofL limited the Demon Deacons to 26.5 percent shooting from the field.

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 18.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Dwayne Sutton ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.2 points along with 6.9 rebounds per game. Christen Cunningham is third on the team in scoring with 10.2 points and leads the team with 87 assists on the year. Steven Enoch averages 9.7 points per game along with 5.3 rebounds per game while Malik Williams is averaging 8.1 points and pulling down 5.3 rebounds per game.

North Carolina (16-4, 6-1 ACC) has won eight of its last nine games, including winning 77-54 at Georgia Tech in its last game on Jan. 29 as Cameron Johnson scored 22 points and gathered three steals and Coby White totaled 19 points and eight assists.

North Carolina is fifth in the nation in rebounding margin (+9.9), is second in assists per game (19.8) and third in scoring offense (87.6 ppg). Six Tar Heel players are averaging over eight points a game, led by Cameron Johnson (15.8 ppg). UNC is No. 5 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 7 in ESPN's College Basketball
Power Index (BPI), No. 9 in the NET rankings and No. 7 by Ken Pomeroy through Jan. 30.

Louisville trails 6-13 in its series against North Carolina, but the Cardinals have won three of the last six matchups. Louisville handed the Tar Heels their only ACC loss of season in winning 83-62 in Chapel Hill, N.C. earlier this year (1-12-19) as Dwayne Sutton totaled 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while Steven Enoch and Jordan Nwora each scored 17 points as well. Four meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament, including twice in regional finals.

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Louisville's current six-game win streak is its longest conference win streak in the Cardinals' five years in the ACC and longest since winning seven straight league games in 2013-14. UofL's 7-1 ACC record is its best ACC start.
Louisville has a 46-12 record in its conference home games over the last six years (.793). UofL has the fourth-most conference home wins in its five years in the ACC with a 31-9 ACC home record.
Jordan Nwora is the second-most improved scorer in the nation with his 18.2 scoring average up 12.5 ppg from his 5.7 average last year. He led UofL with 20 points at Wake Forest, his 10th game this season with 20 or more points.
Dwayne Sutton has had double-doubles in four of the last seven games, including his last game at Wake Forest with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals. He has scored in double digits in nine of the last 12 games.
Steven Enoch produced his second career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds two games ago vs. Pitt. UofL is 9-2 when Enoch scores in double figures. He is averaging 11.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and shot 60 percent from the field over the last seven games.
Louisville has allowed less than 55 points in three of its last four games. Wake Forest became the ninth opponent Louisville has held under 40 percent shooting on the year and 55th over the last four years. Louisville is 24th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency by Kenpom.
UofL has scored 80 or more points in 13 of its 21 games (79.6 ppg) and the Cardinals are 14^th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency by Kenpom. UofL is second in the ACC in scoring offense for conference games (81.1 ppg).

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Players Mentioned

Christen Cunningham

Steven Enoch

Jordan Nwora

Dwayne Sutton

Malik Williams

University of Louisville Athletics