UNC Basketball: Tar Heels control pace in win over Cardinals

LOUISVILLE, KY - FEBRUARY 17: Joel Berry II
LOUISVILLE, KY - FEBRUARY 17: Joel Berry II /
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Tar Heels stay hot from downtown in win over Cardinals

Joel Berry II had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists for North Carolina, as the Tar Heels beat the Louisville Cardinals by a final score of 93-76 on Saturday night.

North Carolina entered the game on a bit of a hot streak, winning five consecutive games, including victories over in-state rivals Duke and NC State. The Tar Heels did nothing on Saturday night to show that the hot streak would be ending any time soon.

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The Tar Heels scored better than 90 points for the third time in their last five games, and had five players score in double-figures.

Theo Pinson scored 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. He also added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Tar Heels, now 21-7 on the season and 10-5 in ACC play.

Luke Maye recorded his 14th double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds. He, too, had an all-around good game, notching three assists, four steals and three made three-pointers. Cam Johnson and Kenny Williams added 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Berry played one of his best games as a Tar Heel, hitting five of the team’s 12 three-pointers in a game-high 36 minutes.

And North Carolina, as a whole, stayed hot shooting the ball, knocking down 44 percent of their shots from long-range and 9-of-10 from the free throw line.

Louisville was led by Deng Adel, who came off the bench for the Cardinals after missing two games with a sprained left ankle. He scored 20 points for the Cardinals on 8-of-12 shooting. Junior forward Ray Spalding had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Louisville, who dropped to 18-9 after the home loss to North Carolina.

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The Tar Heels are currently in fourth-place of the ACC standings, just behind 9-4 Duke and Clemson. After the Blue Devils and Tigers face off on Sunday, North Carolina will be in third-place with just three regular season games remaining.