Louisville Welcomes North Carolina on Saturday for White Out

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville men's basketball is back home Saturday to host North Carolina at 2 p.m. ET at the KFC Yum! Center. The game is a White Out and will air on ESPN.

The Cardinals most recently fell 83-70 at ACC-leading Clemson on Wednesday. North Carolina is coming off a 65-58 loss at Virginia on Tuesday.

Louisville is 7-18 all-time against North Carolina, including 5-3 at home, and the Tar Heels have won the last three meetings in the series. The Tar Heels rank 26th in the country in Division I experience per Ken Pomeroy, while Louisville ranks 340th.

GAME 18

North Carolina (11-6, 3-3 ACC) at Louisville (2-15, 0-6 ACC)
January 14, 2023 | 2 p.m. ET
KFC Yum! Center | Louisville, Ky.

MEDIA INFO

Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship); Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Bob Valvano, analysis)

Watch: ESPN (Dave O'Brien, pxp | Cory Alexander, analyst | Angel Gray, sideline)

Live Stats: Sidearm Stats

PROMOTIONS/TICKETS

Single-Game Tickets

White Out: Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite white Cards gear

TOP STORYLINES

• Redshirt freshman guard/forward Mike James was named ACC Rookie of the Week on Monday. James averaged 21.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals across two games last week. He had a career-high 24 points and eight rebounds Saturday against Wake Forest and made 9 of 16 total 3-pointers during the week.

• Mike James is the first Louisville freshman to score at least 17 points in three straight games since DeJuan Wheat did it in three straight games from Dec. 29, 1993, to Jan. 4, 1994. James has averaged 20 points and 5.7 rebounds while shooting 52% from both the field and the 3-point line over the last three games.

• After averaging 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds with two total 3-pointers over the previous four games, redshirt junior forward Jae'Lyn Withers has averaged 10.7 points and 4.3 rebounds with seven 3s in the last three games coming off the bench.

• Over the last eight games, senior guard El Ellis has averaged 19.6 points, 6.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals. As of Friday, Ellis was one of 15 players in the nation with at least 295 points and 80 assists this season. After having a positive or even assist-to-turnover ratio just three times in the first nine games of the season, Ellis has been positive or even in seven of the last eight games. Over the last four games, he has just 11 total turnovers in 152 minutes of game action.

• After averaging 1.7 points and 3.6 rebounds across the first nine games, senior forward Sydney Curry is averaging 9.3 points and 7.3 rebounds over the last eight games while shooting 64% overall. His career-high 19 rebounds against Florida A&M were the most by a Cardinal since Luke Whitehead grabbed 19 boards against Marquette on Jan. 31, 2004.

• Improving rebounding has been a focus for the Cardinals since getting outrebounded 106-79 total in three losses to Lipscomb, NC State and Kentucky, with just seven offensive rebounds per game. In three games since then, Louisville has outrebounded its three opponents 104-97 with an average of 13.7 offensive rebounds per outing.

• One of the Cardinals' strengths as a team has been getting to the free-throw line. Louisville has shot at least 20 free throws in seven of the last eight games and over that span has shot 29 more total free throws than its opponents.

• The Cardinals are 15 games into a 16-game stretch that will see them face 12 teams in the top 85 of the KenPom rankings and 15 teams in the top 190. That stretch began in Maui with Arkansas and concludes Jan. 18 with Pittsburgh. From Maui through the end of the regular season, 19 of Louisville's 28 opponents rank in the top 85 in KenPom, while 27 of them rank in the top 190 and 11 of them rank in the top 50.

HISTORY VS. NORTH CAROLINA (UNC leads 18-7)

Last Meeting: North Carolina 70, Louisville 63
Feb. 21, 2022 | Chapel Hill, N.C.

Brady Manek scored 17 points, Armando Bacot had 12 points and 15 rebounds for his 21st double-double, and North Carolina beat Louisville 70-63.

North Carolina finished on a 6-0 run, holding Louisville scoreless for the final 2 minutes, 50 seconds. The Cardinals made just one of their final nine shots.

Louisville missed its final four 3-pointers, and North Carolina sealed it with Caleb Love's layup at 37.9.

R.J. Davis and Love each added 16 points for North Carolina. Leaky Black had seven points and Puff Johnson added two to complete the scoring for the Tar Heels, who played just eight players. Manek scored 11 points in the first half, Armando Bacot had 10 points and eight rebounds, and the game was tied at 36.

Jae'Lyn Withers, Dre Davis and Williams, in his second straight start, each scored 10 points for Louisville.

Louisville Welcomes North Carolina on Saturday for White Out

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sydney Curry

Dre Davis

El Ellis

Mike James

Jae'Lyn Withers

University of Louisville Athletics