UNC Basketball: Tar Heels shut down Cardinals in Chapel Hill

UNC beat Louisville in Chapel Hill this evening. What did the Tar Heels do to walk out as winners for their third straight double digit win?

Add Louisville to the list of Tar Heel casulties. North Carolina beat Louisville 74-63 for their 24th win on the season.

How did the game play out?

First Half

The first half was notable for two main stats: poor shooting and turnovers.

The two teams combined to shoot 27-of-68 from the field. That’s only 39.7 percent from the field. UNC was the more egregious of the two missing a lot of close shots, while allowing Louisville to outscore them by double digits in the paint.

The two teams also couldn’t hold on to the ball. The two squads combined for 16 first half turnovers. A lot of them led to easy transition for the Cardinals.

The half also featured an angry Roy Williams and a monster dunk from Louisville sophomore Deng Adel. The Tar Heels led by three mainly because they went 4-for-8 from behind the arc, while the Cardinals went 0-for-6.

Feb 22, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Kennedy Meeks (3) reacts with forward Tony Bradley (5) in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

Second Half

UNC pulled away in this game thanks to a 26-9 run when the game was tied at 40 with just over 15 minutes to play.

The Tar Heels made that run in a huge thanks to the scoring of Justin Jackson who finished with 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting.

The Tar Heels also made their free throws down the stretch. UNC made 7-of-8 free throws in the last 76 seconds of the game to ice it for the Tar Heels.

Louisville on the other hand couldn’t buy a point from the charity stripe going 4-of-13 from the line.

UNC also continued their three point defense from the Virginia game. Louisville finished 5-20 thanks to a couple of late threes. In their last two games, the Tar Heels have held their opponents to 7-of-40 from beyond the arc, good for a measly 17.5 percent from downtown.

Kennedy Meeks also deserves a shout out by finishing with a double double. The senior center also went 6-for-7 from the free throw line.

On the negative side, Isaiah Hicks did not have a good game. The Senior forward finished with four fouls and seven rebounds in 15 minutes of play. UNC also turned it over 12 times, though they did force 16 turnovers from the Cardinals.

In the end UNC won their 16th-straight home game. They also got a gift from Syracuse before the game even tipped off. The Orange beat Duke at the buzzer. The win means UNC has a two game lead on the ACC with three games to go.

Up next is Pittsburgh on Saturday. A win there and UNC will at worst share first place in the ACC this season.

Things are looking good in Chapel Hill.

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