CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — It didn’t take overtime this time, but North Carolina still had to grind out a win against Louisville on Monday night, 70-63, in a game that had seemingly everyone at the Dean E. Smith Center standing in the final minutes.
The game had nine ties and eight lead changes before sophomore guard Caleb Love’s layup with 37 seconds left gave the Tar Heels (20-8, 12-5 ACC) a 68-63 lead and their first two-possession lead in the game’s final three minutes.
UNC beat the Cardinals (12-13, 6-11) 90-83 in overtime on Feb. 1 in Louisville. Durham native El Ellis, who scored a career-high 25 points for U of L in that game, managed only seven on Monday.
To sub or not to sub
Considering the game was a short turnaround from Carolina’s 65-57 win at Virginia Tech on Saturday, Hubert Davis still relied primarily on the starting five to play big minutes.
That’s not a departure given all five starters played 38 or more minutes in their overtime win against the Cards. Reserves in the first meeting — Puff Johnson, Justin McKoy and Kerwin Walton — totaled 21 minutes.
On Monday, Johnson, Walton and freshman Dontrez Styles accounted for 20 minutes.
Love, who scored 16 points and had five assists, played the entire 40 minutes.
Forgotten Man(ek)?
UNC forward Brady Manek scored 24 points in the first game against Louisville and started off Monday night with 11 points in the first half. He made three of his first four shots from 3-point range.
But in the second half, Manek was largely missing offensively. He had just three shots through the first 16 minutes of the half. But when it mattered, he asserted himself back in the mix.
Manek made a fadeaway jumper to give UNC a 64-60 lead. Then with the shot clock running down, he was on the receiving end of a R.J. Davis pass that he could have tried a layup. Instead, Manek made a dish to Armando Bacot for a dunk with 1:33 to put Carolina up 66-63.
Manek finished with 17 points. But the Heels would do better to not to forget him in long stretches.
Malik makes a difference
Louisville forward Malik Williams did not play against the Heels in the first meeting while he was suspended by the team. The Cardinals captain made a big difference in the lineup on Monday.
UNC only allowed U of L 24 points in the paint in their 90-83 overtime win on Feb. 1. With Williams leading the way, the Cards had 18 points in the paint in the first half against Carolina. And it wasn’t just from him scoring on the blocks.
Williams made a 3-pointer early on, forcing Armando Bacot to respect his perimeter game and leave the paint to defend him. That opened up the lane for other U of L players to drive to the basket and score, sometimes without much resistance.
Williams finished with 10 points and the Cards outscored UNC 34-30 in points in the paint.
