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The Tar Heels need to be very careful at Louisville.
After a lackluster start against Campbell, in which both teams shot very well in the second half, Carolina resumes ACC play on New Year’s Day at Louisville — which has the same 8-5 record as UNC and has played a similarly tough schedule.
When watching the 6 p.m. game on the ACC Network, you might not recognize many (if any) names on the Cardinals new roster of veterans and transfers by former Charleston coach Pat Kelsey. This is far from the team that finished 18th in the ACC last season with a 3-17 record and 8-24 overall that got coach Kenny Payne fired.
Louisville has beaten Indiana, then ranked No. 14 in the country, by 28 points at the YUM! Center. The Cardinals’ five losses are all to power conference teams, four of them ranked. They lost to currently top-ranked Tennessee by 22 points in their second game of the season. Then to Oklahoma by 5, Ole Miss by 23. Duke by 11, and Kentucky by 8. That is comparable to Carolina’s defeats to Kansas Auburn, Michigan State, Alabama, and Florida.
Louisville has already lost two players to injuries, one for the season, and still plays eight guys at least 14 minutes. Against Campbell, the Heels played six that long in a game they were nearly outshot by the mid major opponent in the second half.
The ‘Ville is led by senior guard Chucky Hepburn, who averages 15 points and 5 assists per game and is a career-average 35 percent shooter from the arc. Their rebounding leader is 6-foot-8 senior J’Vonne Hadley with 8 per game. Their guards are seniors Terrence Edwards and Reyne Smith, who combine to average 15 points and shoot better than 35% from outside. Their center is another senior, 6-foot-11 Noah Waterman. So, five seniors leading a deep roster could be trouble.
Meanwhile, Hubert Davis’ roster is still in flux after R.J. Davis, Elliot Cadeau and Seth Trimble, who sat out the Campbell game with an injury. That gave freshmen Ian Jackson a chance to play 36 minutes and score 26 points, both career highs, and Drake Powell to play 30 minutes and score 12 points. Cadeau also contributed a career-high 12 assists.
R.J. Davis scored 23 points and had a season high of five 3-pointers to make him the leading long-ball shooter in UNC history with 303 from the arc. “It’s crazy with all shooters and scorers who have come through this program,” R.J. said.
Coach Davis went back to junior Jalen Washington as the starting big man and J-Wash had 10 points and 5 rebounds in 14-plus minutes. The rotation inside included Ven-Allen Lubin (7-plus minutes), Ty Claude (10) and Jae’Lyn Withers (10-plus). Cade Tyson played 18 minutes at the two forward positions but again struggled shooting, going 1-5 and 0-4 from outside.
Overall, the Heels must do much better to go 2-0 in the ACC before a capacity crowd that is feeling happier about its team this season.
Featured photo credits: Todd Melet/Chapel Hill Media Group.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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