Preview: Louisville Travels to Chapel Hill for Ranked Matchup vs. UNC

The Cardinals hit the road for a top-25 showdown at the Dean Dome.

Jan 1, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward James Scott (0) dunks against North Carolina Tar Heels forward Jae'Lyn Withers (24) and forward Jalen Washington (13) during the second half at KFC Yum! Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

No. 21 Louisville Cardinals (20-7, 9-5 ACC) at No. 16 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-6, 9-5 ACC)

- Tipoff: Monday, Feb. 23 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -1.0
- All-Time Series: North Carolina Leads 20-8
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 83-70 on Jan. 1, 2025 (KFC Yum! Center)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
• G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
• F J'Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, 6th)
• F/C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)

North Carolina

• G Seth Trimble (6-3, 200, Sr.)
• G Derek Dixon (6-5, 200, Fr.)
• G Luka Bogavac (6-6, 215, Jr.)
• F Jarin Stevenson (6-10, 215, Jr.)
• C Henri Veesaar (7-0, 225, Jr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Tar Heels, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. North Carolina

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville men’s basketball travels to Chapel Hill, N.C., to play North Carolina on Big Monday. UofL has won six of its last seven games, most recently defeating Georgia Tech 87-70 on Senior Day.
• UofL has a 66-90 record against Top 25 teams over the last 15 years.
• Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 176-68 (.721) all-time conference games as a head coach; he holds an 81-41 (.664) record in league road games.
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. tied Louisville's single-game scoring record with 45 points against NC State on Feb. 9. He tied the legendary Wes Unseld who was the lone owner of the record since Dec. 1, 1967. Brown also broke the ACC freshman single game scoring record, previously set by Cooper Flagg at 42 points.
• Louisville had two 30-point scorers in one game for the first time in program history as Mikel Brown Jr. scored 45 and Ryan Conwell scored 31 against NC State on Feb. 9. UofL is one of three teams in DI this season to have a game with two 31+ point scorers. The duo became the first pair of ACC players to drop 30+ each against another ACC team since Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson of UNC did it at Florida State on Jan. 4, 2016.
• Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. was named ACC Player and Rookie of the Week on Feb. 16 in addition to Naismith Trophy Player of the Week and AP National Player of the Week.
• According to OptaSTATS, Mikel Brown Jr. and Ryan Conwell are the only DI teammate duo in the last 30 seasons to combine for 75+ points, 15+ rebounds and 15+ threes made in a game. Only one NBA duo has ever done it: Damian Lillard and Nassir Little during Lillard's 71-point game on Feb. 26, 2023. Mikel Brown Jr. is the only DI player since at least 2010-11 to record 45 points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals in 34 minutes or less in a single game. He did so against NC State on Feb. 9.
• As of Feb. 22, there are 25 players in DI shooting 41.5% or above from 3-point range in their career. No one in that group has made or attempted more 3-pointers than senior guard Isaac McKneely, who has made 307 on 736 attempts. He is 83 makes and 210 attempts ahead of the next closest player, Milan Momcilovic of Iowa State.
• Louisville is one of three DI teams with at least six victories of 40 points or more this season, joining Michigan (7) and High Point (6). The six 40+ point wins are the most UofL has ever had in a single season.
• Mikel Brown Jr. is one of nine players in DI this season to score 45 points, and one of six to do it in a regulation length game.
• Louisville is one of four programs that has logged at least three games of 18+ made 3's, joining Cornell (4 games), Charleston Southern (3) and VMI (3).
• Louisville has had five games of at least 24 assists, the first time since 2010-11 that the program has had multiple games of 24+ assists; the Cardinals had five games of at 24+ assists that season. Louisville is one of 14 teams in 2025-26 as of Feb. 22 to have five games or more of at least 24 assists.
• Louisville's 118 points against NC State on Feb. 9 were the most points scored in a game by the Cardinals since UofL defeated Morehead State 119-61 on Dec. 6, 1995. It was UofL's sixth game of 100 points or more this year, tying the record for most 100-point games in a single season, previoulsy set by the 1977-78 team.
• Against Memphis on Dec. 13, Louisville had four different players with at least three 3-pointers apiece for the first time since Nov. 22, 2010 when the Cards played Chattanooga
• Louisville is one of four programs that has logged at least three games of 18+ made 3's, joining Cornell (4 games), Charleston Southern (3) and VMI (3).
• UofL has three Cardinals on the roster that have scored over 1,000 DI points: Ryan Conwell (1,829), Isaac McKneely (1,387) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,319).
• There are 14 players who returned to DI this season that started the season with at least 175 made 3-pointers with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 38% or more; Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely are two of those 14 players.
• Of the 10 players who were on an NCAA DI roster in 2024-25, eight of them were on teams that played in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The roster has made 14 cumulative NCAA Division I Tournament appearances at their current/previous schools, playing in 10 NCAA Tournament games across their careers.

North Carolina

• The Tar Heels begin a key, three-game homestand on Monday, when they host Louisville at 7 p.m.
• Following the Louisville game, the Tar Heels host Virginia Tech on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 8:30 p.m. and conclude the home portion of the schedule against Clemson on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m.
• Carolina is No. 22 in Wins Against the Bubble and 28th in the NET. The Tar Heels have five Q1 wins and three more Q2 wins, including the 77-64 win at Syracuse.
• Duke and Virginia, the top two teams in the ACC standings, are a combined 25-3 in ACC play and 49-5 overall. The Tar Heels have two of the three wins against the Blue Devils and Cavaliers in league play. Carolina is the only team to win in Charlottesville this season.
• Patrick Kinas and 2009 national champion Danny Green, who played in more wins (123) than any Tar Heel ever, are on the national radio broadcast for Compass.
• Green and Henri Veesaar are two of only seven Tar Heels to make 30 three-pointers and block 30 shots in the same season. Veesaar has blocked 32 shots and made 31 three-pointers in 25 games. The list includes Jerry Stackhouse in 1994-95, Vince Carter in 1997-98, Jawad Williams in 2002-03, Green in 2007-08 and 2008-09, Luke Maye in 2017-18, Pete Nance on 2022-23 and Veesaar.
• Veesaar is also the only player in the country with 40 or more dunks and 30 or more three-pointers.
• The Tar Heels are 11-3 in 14 games played this season with their top three scorers – Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and Seth Trimble – in the lineup.
• UNC went 8-1 without Trimble, who missed nine games from November 11-December 16. Carolina was 1-1 against Pitt and NC State without Veesaar and Wilson and 1-0 without Wilson (the win at Syracuse).
• The Tar Heels improved to 7-3 against Syracuse on the Orange's home court and 14-4 all-time in the JMA Wireless Dome with their 77-64 win on Saturday.
• Henri Veesaar was a gametime decision (lower extremity) after missing the previous two games and responded with 19 points and three blocks in 26 minutes. It was the sixth this season Veesaar has led the Tar Heels in scoring (first since back-to-back games against Wake Forest and Stanford).
• Veesaar and Seth Trimble, who scored all 13 of his points in the second half, both scored four points in an 8-0 run midway through the second half to break a 44-44 tie and propel the Tar Heels to their third-straight win over the Orange.
• With 21 wins this season, Carolina has won 20 or more games a record 66 times (Duke is second with 60). Hubert Davis is the first men's basketball coach in ACC history to win 20 or more game in each of his first five seasons. Only three other ACC coaches ever won 20 or more in their first four seasons (Duke's Jon Scheyer, NC State's Mark Gottfried and Wake Forest's Skip Prosser).
• The Naismith Hall of Fame named Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson to the Midseason Top 10 lists for their respective positional awards (Veesaar for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center Award and Wilson for the Karl Malone Power Forward Award).
• Veesaar and Wilson are the only players in the ACC in the top 10 in the league in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, blocks and double-doubles.
• Wilson averaged 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds in the first 24 games before being sidelined with a broken hand, while Veesaar is averaging 16.5 points and 8.8 rebounds. Combined, they have 24 double-doubles and scored 20 or more points 23 times.
• Offensively, the Tar Heels are 13th in the country in assist/turnover ratio, 14th in turnover percentage, 17th in turnovers and 31st in offensive efficiency.
• The Tar Heels are 48th in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding their opponents to a combined 41.3% from the floor. They've held seven opponents below 35% and 11 under 40%.
• UNC is 11-0 this season and 56-4 under head coach Hubert Davis when holding opponents under 40% from the floor and 0-4 this season and 6-19 under Davis when the opponents make 50%.
• The Tar Heel defense is 11th in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense (45.5%) and 34th in effective field goal percentage (47.4%).
• Carolina is making 8.44 three-pointers per game, on pace for the second-highest average in a season behind only 2018-19, when the Tar Heel lineup included Cameron Johnson, Coby White, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye. Over the last eight games, Carolina has made 66 threes and allowed 51.
• UNC is averaging 9.41 turnovers, its fewest ever (previous low is 10.08 in 2023-24). The Tar Heels have committed fewer than five turnovers three times this season.
• Carolina's assist/turnover ratio of 1.73 is the best in UNC history (previous 1.65 in 2015-16). Every player on the team who plays at least 10 minutes a game has more assists than turnovers.
• The Tar Heels are on track to make this the first season when every player who averages
  double-figure minutes has more assists than turnovers since turnovers were officially recorded beginning in 1979-80.
• Notable statistical comparisons between Carolina's 21 wins and six losses:
• UNC averages 83.2 points in the wins and 72.2 in the losses.
• The Tar Heels allow 66.7 points in the wins and 84.5 points in the losses.
• The opponents are shooting 52.2% from the floor, including 49.2% from three, in the six losses and 38.4/30.1 in Carolina's 21 wins.
• The Tar Heels have a rebound margin of 5.8 in the wins and have the same number of rebounds as the opponents in the losses.
• Carolina makes 1.8 more three-pointers than the opponents in the wins, while the opponents have averaged 2.9 more in the losses. The Tar Heels have been outscored by a total of 51 points from three in the six losses.

(Photo via Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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