University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Louisville Postgame Notes
March 12, 2015 | Men's Basketball
POSTGAME NOTES
NORTH CAROLINA 70, LOUISVILLE 60
ACC TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS – MARCH 12, 2015
CAROLINA is now 23-10 overall; 92-43 in the ACC Tournament; 38-17 in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro; 120-32 in Greensboro; 114-29 in the Greensboro Coliseum; and 42-13 in the ACC Quarterfinals
ROY WILLIAMS passed legendary Kansas Coach Phog “Doc” Allen (for whom Allen Fieldhouse is named) with his 747th victory. That moves Williams into 15th place in all-time wins. Henry Iba is 14th with 759.
WILLIAMS is now 747-200 overall (.789) and 329-99 as Carolina's head coach.
WILLIAMS' teams have a 17-9 record in the ACC Tournament. This is the ninth time in 12 seasons the Tar Heels have reached the semifinals of the ACC Tournament under Williams.
Fifth seed CAROLINA beat #4 Louisville today. That is the first time UNC has defeated a higher seed in the ACC Tournament since #7 UNC beat #2 Maryland on March 14, 2003, in Greensboro. Today was the fifth time since that 2003 game the Tar Heels played a higher seeded opponent in the ACC Tournament.
CAROLINA and LOUISVILLE have played three times this season and in each game the winning team rallied from a double digit deficit.
– On January 10, Louisville led by 13 with 8:43 to play, but UNC won, 72-71, on a Marcus Paige basket with 8.5 seconds to play.
– On January 31, UNC led by 18 with 17:51 to play, but Louisville outscored UNC 53-25 the final 17:51 plus overtime to win 78-68.
– Today, the Cardinals led 30-20 with 5:01 to play in the first half. The Tar Heels closed to within five at the break, then took the lead for the first time in the second half at 39-37. Today's game featured nine ties and 12 lead changes.
CAROLINA is 32-14 all-time in the semifinals in the ACC Tournament. The teams have not played in the semifinals since March 13, 1993, in Charlotte when Carolina defeated Virginia, 74-56. That is a game best remembered for having the lights go out in the arena due to a snowstorm and UNC point guard Derrick Phelps being injured and unable to play the next day in the championship.
CAROLINA is 11-3 all-time against VIRGINIA in the ACC Tournament. The teams last played in 2006 in the quarterfinals, a 79-67 Tar Heel victory. The Cavaliers last beat UNC in the ACC Tournament in 1990 in the quarterfinals. UNC has won the last five meetings in the ACC Tournament.
UNC is 5-0 against VIRGINIA in the ACC Tournament in games played in Greensboro.
CAROLINA shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the second half, the fifth straight game UNC made at least half its shots from the floor in the final 20 minutes (.519 at Miami, .607 at Georgia Tech, .583 vs. Duke, .515 vs. Boston College and .500 vs. Louisville).
LOUISVILLE shot 22.2 percent from the floor in the second half, the second-lowest percentage in any half by an opponent this year (Clemson shot 17.9 percent in the first half in the ACC opener on January 3rd.
LOUISVILLE scored 10 points off UNC turnovers today. In the first two meetings this year, the Cardinals scored 16 and 17 points, respectively, off turnovers.
BRICE JOHNSON scored a game-high 22 points, 18 of which came in the second half. It was his fourth 20-point game of the season (fifth career).
JOHNSON tied his career high with eight free throws (also made eight vs. Richmond last year). Johnson missed his only attempt in the first half and went 8 for 8 from the line in the second half.
JOHNSON scored more points in the second half today against Louisville (18) than he did in the two regular season games combined (11 at home and two at Louisville).
JOHNSON led UNC in scoring for the 11th time this year, which matches Marcus Paige for the most games leading UNC this season.
JOHNSON has scored at least 16 points in 11 of the last 15 games. In that stretch, he has scored 16, 17 three times, 18 twice, 19 twice, 20 and 22 twice and averaged 15.1 per game (had 22 total in the other four games).
JUSTIN JACKSON scored 10 points, his seventh consecutive game in double figures this year. Prior to the last seven games, his longest double-figure streak was three. He averaged 7.5 points in the four games prior to this seven-game streak and 12.4 in the last seven games.
MARCUS PAIGE had 13 points, five assists and four steals. He made three three-pointers and has 210 career threes, one behind Jeff Lebo for fifth in UNC history. It was his 25th time in double figures this year and the 38th time in his career he made at least three three-pointers in a game. He now has 455 career assists.
PAIGE had five assists and one turnover today. In his last 11 games he has 59 assists and only 19 turnovers, an assist-error ratio of 3.1.
In the first half today, BRICE JOHNSON and KENNEDY MEEKS were a combined 3 for 12 from the floor. In the second half, Johnson and Meeks were 8 for 12 from the floor.
