Late Burst Sends Cards Past Tar Heels, 83-70

Courtesy GoHeels.com

By: Matt Bowers

LOUISVILLE, KY.— Louisville closed the game with a 13-1 run and grabbed an 83-70 win over North Carolina on Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center.

After trailing throughout most of the game, the Tar Heels scored five consecutive points to pull within a point at 70-69 with 5:09 remaining. The Cardinals finished the game with their 13-1 spurt, a burst that included eight successful free throws in the closing minutes.

Chucky Hepburn hit 16 of 20 free throw attempts and scored a game-high 26 points for Louisville, adding seven assists.

Tar Heel freshman Ian Jackson posted his third consecutive 20-point game with 23 points, hitting 7 of 15 shots and 7 of 11 free throws in a strong offensive performance in 35 minutes.

Fellow freshman Drake Powell added 14 points and four rebounds before fouling out in the closing minutes. RJ Davis scored 12 with four assists and three rebounds.

Louisville won its third game in a row and fourth in its last five outings, improving to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Carolina, which had won two in a row, fell to 8-6, 1-1. The Cards snapped a five-game losing streak to the Tar Heels.

How It Happened
First Half
• Neither team played great in the opening half, but Louisville shot better collectively and led by as many as eight points in the opening half.
• The Cardinals shot 40.0 percent as a team while UNC was at 32.4 percent.
• Davis scored nine of Carolina’s final 11 points of the half after being held scoreless for the first 15:08 of the game.
• Carolina’s 31 points tied as its lowest output in a first half this season (also had 31 vs. Georgia Tech).

Second Half
• Hepburn hit his first three shots of the second half for Louisville
• Before the first timeout of the second half, the Cardinals had built their first double-digit lead at 51-40.
• Carolina used an 8-0 run to pull within a point at 59-58 with 9:17 to go.
• It was a back-and-forth game for the next several minutes until the Cards’ strong closing spurt.

Notes
• Louisville attempted 39 free throws, hitting 25 while forcing three Tar Heels to foul out of the game. Meanwhile, UNC attempted just 23 free throws, hitting 18.
• Jackson is the first Tar Heel freshman to score at least 20 points in three straight games since Cole Anthony in the first three games of the 2019-20 season.
• UNC shot 50 percent (13 for 26) in the second half against the Cardinals & has shot at least 50 percent in the second half in five straight games. Carolina is 6-4 when shooting at least 50% in the second half in 2024-25.
 • The Cardinals snapped a five-game UNC winning streak in the series (UNC’s last loss to the Cardinals had been on 2/22/20).
 • Carolina shot 40 percent as a team from the field, tied for its second-worst shooting game of the season (also shot 40 percent against Elon and shot 39 percent versus Georgia Tech).
 • Carolina led for just 24 seconds in the game.

Up Next
The Tar Heels will return to the road for the second time this week with a Saturday afternoon date at Notre Dame on CBS.