By Derek Brightwell–
The University of Louisville’s inaugural ACC Tournament lasted one game, as the Cards fell to the University of North Carolina 70-60.
“It was a tale of two halves, and we played very well in the first half. They switched defenses and we played very poorly in the second half,” Louisville Head Coach Rick Pitino said. “So give them a lot of credit, and we’ll just sit back and see who we play on Sunday.”
The defensive switch came when North Carolina switched to a zone defense, which has given Louisville problems all year.
“When they went zone we rushed a little bit. We missed open looks,” Pitino said. “We’ve been okay against zones. We’re not the greatest outside shooting team. But to be honest, I think I’ve got to make one change, which has nothing to do with perimeter shooting. I think I’ve got to make a change at the five spot to try to get more offense into our five position.”
The loss was the Cards’ second to the Tar Heels this season, bringing their record to 1-2 against Roy Williams’ squad on the year. All three games have been up-tempo and saw the winning team overcome a double-digit deficit.
“I think it’s ability, first of all. Coaches that like to go up and down the court. I like to play a full court game. Coach Pitino likes to play a full court game. They press a little bit more. We tried to do our pressure in the half court, but both of us like to run the ball,“ Williams said of the pace. “So I think it’s just two groups of kids that like to compete, and I felt very fortunate to be involved.”
“There are a lot of athletes on the floor in this game. I talked about it yesterday how big rebounding would be,” UNC point guard Marcus Paige said. “A lot of plays were made above the rim today. It’s fun for a point guard because we don’t get to do that very much, ever really, be above the rim. It’s fun to have guys like Brice (Johnson) to throw the ball to.”
Sophomore Terry Rozier (20), senior Wayne Blackshear (18) and junior Montrezl Harrell (14) combined for 52 of the Cardinals 60 points, with Mangok Mathiang and Quentin Snider adding four each to the total. The Cards also shot poorly from the line and from behind the arc all game, finishing at 60 percent and 18.2 percent respectively. The 22.2 percent from the field in the second half is what did Pitino’s team in.
In the second half, North Carolina shot 50 percent from the field and didn’t miss a free throw. Junior Brice Johnson scored 18 of his 22 in the half, making five of his eight attempts.
The loss drops Louisville to 24-8 on the season, and they will most likely fall in the four or five seed of the NCAA Tournament. North Carolina improves to 23-10 on the year and will play Virginia in the semi-finals of the ACC Tournament after the Cavaliers beat Florida State earlier in the day.
