No. 4 UNC shakes off Louisville's second-half rally

Field Level Media|published: Wed 17th January, 23:42 2024

Jan 17, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Ty-Laur Johnson (4) and North Carolina Tar Heels guard RJ Davis (4) fight for the ball in the first half at Dean E. Smith Center. credits: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

RJ Davis scored 21 points and No. 4 North Carolina cruised for all except a second-half stretch, topping Louisville 86-70 for its seventh straight victory Wednesday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Armando Bacot had 19 points and Louisville transfer Jae'Lyn Withers notched 15 points for North Carolina (14-3, 6-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which is 8-0 in home games. Cormac Ryan added 14 points, and Harrison Ingram had 10.

The Tar Heels, who have their longest winning streak in Hubert Davis' three seasons as head coach, shot 48.3 percent from the field.

Skyy Clark's 16 points, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield's 15 points and Tre White's 12 points led Louisville (6-11, 1-5), which has lost five of its past six games.

The Cardinals, who trailed by 17 points at halftime, made nine of their first 10 shots from the field in the second half. A 7-0 run closed the gap to 53-45 before a turnover dimmed the rally. But Louisville kept coming, with Mike James connecting on a 3-pointer to make it 55-50.

The Tar Heels got it back together, in part, with Withers scoring five points in a 34-second span as the lead hopped back to 68-55 with more than eight minutes remaining.

The Tar Heels, who have won five in a row vs. Louisville, picked up where they left off from their Saturday rout of visiting Syracuse. They led 27-11 before the midway mark of the first half on Wednesday.

North Carolina was up 46-29 at halftime, having shot 50 percent from the field. Louisville, which was trying to win two straight road games after a 22-game skid in true road outings, was dinged by nine first-half turnovers.

The Tar Heels had 12 assists on 17 first-half baskets, while Louisville recorded one assist in the first half. Ryan and Davis both had 12 first-half points.

Davis has 14 consecutive games with multiple 3-point baskets, and he achieved that in the game's first 8 1/2 minutes vs. the Cardinals.

Bacot, a fifth-year senior, moved into fourth in all-time scoring at North Carolina, finishing the contest with 2,062 points. He topped Lennie Rosenbluth, who scored 2,047 in three seasons from 1954-57.

—Field Level Media