Photo by: Adam Creech | Louisville Athletics
UofL Men's Basketball Plays Its First Game in 19 Days at North Carolina
February 19, 2021 | Men's Basketball
Game Information
Site: Dean Smith Center (21,750), Chapel Hill, N.C.
Television: ESPN - Doug Sherman, play-by-play; Corey Alexander, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM; also joined in progress on WHAS, 840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM channel 380, Internet 970)
Series History: UofL trails 7-15 (5-2 in Louisville, 1-3 in Chapel Hill, 1-10 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 72, North Carolina 55 (Feb. 22, 2020 in KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: unranked; receiving votes in USA Today & Associated Press polls
Next UofL Game: Feb. 23 vs. Notre Dame, KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ACCN)
Louisville will play its first game in 19 days and its first road game in 24 days as the Cardinals visit the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Louisville had expected to play its first game since Feb. 1 against Syracuse on Wednesday, but another positive test postponed the game less than five hours before tipoff. In its last game on Feb. 1, UofL beat Georgia Tech 74-58 in the KFC Yum! Center as two Cardinals produced double-doubles in David Johnson with 10 rebounds and a career-high 24 points, and Samuell Williamson with career-bests of 20 points and 18 rebounds.
North Carolina (13-7, 7-5 ACC) has won five of its last seven games and eight of its last 11, including an 82-62 victory over Northeastern in its last game on Wednesday.
North Carolina (13-7, 7-5 ACC) has won five of its last seven games and eight of its last 11, including an 82-62 victory over Northeastern in its last game on Wednesday as Day'Ron Sharpe led the Tar Heels with 15 points and Garrison Brooks added 11 points and 13 rebounds.
North Carolina leads the nation in rebounding margin (+11.0; Louisville is second in the ACC at +6.1) and are second nationally in offensive rebounds (15.1 per game). North Carolina is No. 32 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 53 in the NET rankings, No. 36 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI) and No. 43 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 17.
Louisville trails 7-15 in its series against North Carolina, with the Tar Heels holding a 6-4 edge since UofL joined the ACC. The teams have split the last four matchups. In last year's meeting, Louisville prevailed 72-55 over the Tar Heels in the KFC Yum! Center (2-22-20) as Jordan Nwora led the Cardinals with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Malik Williams added 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Cardinals' latest pause in team-related activities due to COVID-19 issues was the second of the season and lasted 19 days between games. It is its longest in-season stretch without a game in 54 years. After its Feb. 1 victory over Georgia Tech, UofL practiced on Feb. 2 before traveling to Syracuse. That evening, test results revealed a positive test that affected several more through contact tracing. Additional positive tests in ensuing days kept the Cards out of practice until a return of some team members on Feb. 12.
In early December, UofL paused due to a positive COVID-19 test and accompanying contact tracing measures among "Tier 1" individuals within the program. UofL paused on Dec. 3, cancelled its Dec. 4 game against UNC Greensboro, postponed its Dec. 16 game vs. NC State, and postponed its Dec. 9 Wisconsin game to play on Dec. 19. The Cardinals returned to team practice on Dec. 12.
Notes
Site: Dean Smith Center (21,750), Chapel Hill, N.C.
Television: ESPN - Doug Sherman, play-by-play; Corey Alexander, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM; also joined in progress on WHAS, 840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM channel 380, Internet 970)
Series History: UofL trails 7-15 (5-2 in Louisville, 1-3 in Chapel Hill, 1-10 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 72, North Carolina 55 (Feb. 22, 2020 in KFC Yum! Center)
UofL National Ranking: unranked; receiving votes in USA Today & Associated Press polls
Next UofL Game: Feb. 23 vs. Notre Dame, KFC Yum! Center, 7 p.m. ET (ACCN)
Louisville will play its first game in 19 days and its first road game in 24 days as the Cardinals visit the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Louisville had expected to play its first game since Feb. 1 against Syracuse on Wednesday, but another positive test postponed the game less than five hours before tipoff. In its last game on Feb. 1, UofL beat Georgia Tech 74-58 in the KFC Yum! Center as two Cardinals produced double-doubles in David Johnson with 10 rebounds and a career-high 24 points, and Samuell Williamson with career-bests of 20 points and 18 rebounds.
North Carolina (13-7, 7-5 ACC) has won five of its last seven games and eight of its last 11, including an 82-62 victory over Northeastern in its last game on Wednesday.
North Carolina (13-7, 7-5 ACC) has won five of its last seven games and eight of its last 11, including an 82-62 victory over Northeastern in its last game on Wednesday as Day'Ron Sharpe led the Tar Heels with 15 points and Garrison Brooks added 11 points and 13 rebounds.
North Carolina leads the nation in rebounding margin (+11.0; Louisville is second in the ACC at +6.1) and are second nationally in offensive rebounds (15.1 per game). North Carolina is No. 32 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 53 in the NET rankings, No. 36 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI) and No. 43 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 17.
Louisville trails 7-15 in its series against North Carolina, with the Tar Heels holding a 6-4 edge since UofL joined the ACC. The teams have split the last four matchups. In last year's meeting, Louisville prevailed 72-55 over the Tar Heels in the KFC Yum! Center (2-22-20) as Jordan Nwora led the Cardinals with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Malik Williams added 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Cardinals' latest pause in team-related activities due to COVID-19 issues was the second of the season and lasted 19 days between games. It is its longest in-season stretch without a game in 54 years. After its Feb. 1 victory over Georgia Tech, UofL practiced on Feb. 2 before traveling to Syracuse. That evening, test results revealed a positive test that affected several more through contact tracing. Additional positive tests in ensuing days kept the Cards out of practice until a return of some team members on Feb. 12.
In early December, UofL paused due to a positive COVID-19 test and accompanying contact tracing measures among "Tier 1" individuals within the program. UofL paused on Dec. 3, cancelled its Dec. 4 game against UNC Greensboro, postponed its Dec. 16 game vs. NC State, and postponed its Dec. 9 Wisconsin game to play on Dec. 19. The Cardinals returned to team practice on Dec. 12.
Notes
- Four meetings against North Carolina have come in the NCAA Tournament, including twice in regional finals.
- Wake Forest was 5-1 against the Tar Heels in the three seasons UofL Coach Chris Mack was an assistant at Wake Forest (2001-04). Mack has a 2-2 record as a head coach vs. North Carolina.
- Carlik Jones, named to The Sporting News Mid-Season All-America team and the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 Watch List recently, ranks third in the ACC in scoring (17.4 ppg) and assists (4.9 apg). Jones has 97 career double-figure scoring efforts, including the last 37 consecutive games (all 14 at UofL). He needs four points for 1,800 in his career. Jones has collected 15 steals in the last seven games.
- Louisville is 9-1 when outrebounding its opponent. UofL's +7.2 rebounding advantage in conference games and its +6.1 margin on the season is second in the ACC. The Cardinals outrebounded Georgia Tech 56-39 on Monday.
- David Johnson is the only player in the ACC among the top 25 in both rebounding (6.1, 21st in ACC) and assists (3.4, ninth in the ACC), adding 13.1 points per game. He has made 22-of-47 three-pointers in his last nine games (.468; 6-of-11 vs. Georgia Tech) and has made a team-leading 29-of-68 threes on the season (.426). He made just five threes as a freshman.
- Samuell Williamson has averaged 11.0 points and 11.7 rebounds while shooting 60.9 percent from the field off the bench over the last three games, grabbing double-digit boards twice.
- Louisville is among the top defensive teams in the ACC, leading the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.401) and ranking third in scoring defense (64.2 ppg) and second in three-point field goal defense (.309). UofL has held eight opponents below 40 percent accuracy from the field.
Players Mentioned
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