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University of North Carolina Athletics
Brandon Robinson and the Tar Heels beat Louisville twice last year.
Photo by: J.D. Lyon Jr.
Know Your Opponent: Louisville
February 22, 2020 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers
By Matt Bowers
Louisville Cardinals (GoCards.com)
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Rankings: No. 10 KenPom, No. 11 AP
Record: 22-3, 13-3 ACC
NET/SOS: No. 9 NET, No. 27 SOS
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads, 15-6 (UNC 83, UL 70 on March 14, 2019, in ACC Tournament quarterfinal in Charlotte; UNC won two of three meetings in 2018-19.)
At 13-3 entering this weekend, Louisville is enjoying its best season in six years in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Not that it's a huge surprise.
The Cardinals were fifth in the preseason Associated Press national poll and have remained in the top half of the top 10 for most of the year, picking up wins over No. 4 Michigan and No. 3 Duke along the way.
Led by Preseason ACC Player of the Year Jordan Nwora and his 18.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, UofL has been one of the nation's top teams since the preseason.
A very different Carolina team won two of three meetings with Louisville last year. The Cardinals cruised to a blowout, 83-62, victory in the Smith Center on Jan. 12, 2019, in what was one of UNC's worst performances of the year. The Tar Heels responded to win, 79-69, three weeks later in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville and 83-70 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Charlotte in March.
This year's incarnation of Chris Mack's team has four regular season games left to play and leads the ACC with a 13-3 conference mark, a half-game better in the win column than Duke and Florida State (12-3). UofL won 10 consecutive ACC games before losing back-to-back games at Georgia Tech and at Clemson last week. In the loss to the Tigers, Louisville shot under 16 percent and scored just 14 points in the first half.
The Cards responded by crushing Syracuse, 90-66, on Wednesday night, controlling the boards, hitting 10 three-pointers and continuing their drive toward a double bye in next month's ACC Tournament.
Louisville is shooting 38.4 percent from three-point range as a team entering the game to rank 11th in the nation. Three Cards shoot at least 40 percent from long range, including Ryan McMahon (60 made, 42.6 percent), Nwora (66, 41.5) and Darius Perry (26, 40.0).
The Cardinals are 12th in the nation in KenPom's offensive efficiency rankings and 35th in defensive efficiency, presenting impressive balance to challenge opponents.
Nwora is the team's only double-digit scorer by average, and he's also second on the team on the boards. His outside shooting prowess gives him an effective field goal percentage of 53.5. Three weeks ago against Boston College, he scored a career-high 37 points while hitting seven three-pointers.
Seven other Cardinals average at least 5.0 points per game, including four at at least 8.0 ppg. When Brandon Robinson discussed the challenges of playing the Cards at Friday's weekly press conference, he cited their depth of scorers as a primary strength.
David Johnson made his first career start on Wednesday vs. Syracuse, but in the last two games he has 15 assists with zero turnovers. In the last 11 games, he's averaging 9.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per outing.
Senior big man Steven Enoch, who is more burly than most ACC players at 6-10, 255, scores nearly 10 points and six boards a game. Wing forward Dwayne Sutton has averaged over 14 points and eight rebounds in the last three games and is at 9.4 ppg for the year.
If the Tar Heels are to pull off the upset and win at Louisville on Saturday, they will need to shoot the ball well like they did in the second half at Notre Dame earlier this week.
Louisville Cardinals (GoCards.com)
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Rankings: No. 10 KenPom, No. 11 AP
Record: 22-3, 13-3 ACC
NET/SOS: No. 9 NET, No. 27 SOS
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads, 15-6 (UNC 83, UL 70 on March 14, 2019, in ACC Tournament quarterfinal in Charlotte; UNC won two of three meetings in 2018-19.)
At 13-3 entering this weekend, Louisville is enjoying its best season in six years in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Not that it's a huge surprise.
The Cardinals were fifth in the preseason Associated Press national poll and have remained in the top half of the top 10 for most of the year, picking up wins over No. 4 Michigan and No. 3 Duke along the way.
Led by Preseason ACC Player of the Year Jordan Nwora and his 18.2 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, UofL has been one of the nation's top teams since the preseason.
A very different Carolina team won two of three meetings with Louisville last year. The Cardinals cruised to a blowout, 83-62, victory in the Smith Center on Jan. 12, 2019, in what was one of UNC's worst performances of the year. The Tar Heels responded to win, 79-69, three weeks later in the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville and 83-70 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Charlotte in March.
This year's incarnation of Chris Mack's team has four regular season games left to play and leads the ACC with a 13-3 conference mark, a half-game better in the win column than Duke and Florida State (12-3). UofL won 10 consecutive ACC games before losing back-to-back games at Georgia Tech and at Clemson last week. In the loss to the Tigers, Louisville shot under 16 percent and scored just 14 points in the first half.
The Cards responded by crushing Syracuse, 90-66, on Wednesday night, controlling the boards, hitting 10 three-pointers and continuing their drive toward a double bye in next month's ACC Tournament.
Louisville is shooting 38.4 percent from three-point range as a team entering the game to rank 11th in the nation. Three Cards shoot at least 40 percent from long range, including Ryan McMahon (60 made, 42.6 percent), Nwora (66, 41.5) and Darius Perry (26, 40.0).
The Cardinals are 12th in the nation in KenPom's offensive efficiency rankings and 35th in defensive efficiency, presenting impressive balance to challenge opponents.
Nwora is the team's only double-digit scorer by average, and he's also second on the team on the boards. His outside shooting prowess gives him an effective field goal percentage of 53.5. Three weeks ago against Boston College, he scored a career-high 37 points while hitting seven three-pointers.
Seven other Cardinals average at least 5.0 points per game, including four at at least 8.0 ppg. When Brandon Robinson discussed the challenges of playing the Cards at Friday's weekly press conference, he cited their depth of scorers as a primary strength.
David Johnson made his first career start on Wednesday vs. Syracuse, but in the last two games he has 15 assists with zero turnovers. In the last 11 games, he's averaging 9.3 points, 4.5 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per outing.
Senior big man Steven Enoch, who is more burly than most ACC players at 6-10, 255, scores nearly 10 points and six boards a game. Wing forward Dwayne Sutton has averaged over 14 points and eight rebounds in the last three games and is at 9.4 ppg for the year.
If the Tar Heels are to pull off the upset and win at Louisville on Saturday, they will need to shoot the ball well like they did in the second half at Notre Dame earlier this week.
Players Mentioned
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