By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — What looked early like another Carolina ACC blowout turned into an unexpected test of the Tar Heels’ resilience.
After building a 20-point first-half lead, UNC battled through the roughest stretch of their seven-game win streak in the first 10 minutes of the second half against Louisville.
Who else would restore order but RJ Davis?
Six of his game-high 21 points ignited a 10–2 run as Carolina turned a five-point lead into a 13-point edge, and the Tar Heels pulled away for an 86–70 victory Wednesday night at the Smith Center.
Jae’Lyn Withers collected season-highs of 15 points (10 in the second half) and 10 rebounds and was a game-high +24 against his former team, the first reserve to produce a double-double since Brady Manek did it against Appalachian State.
“It’s pretty neat,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said of Withers. “He was more than pretty good. I thought his activity on the defensive end and his athleticism, being able to guard multiple players, and rebounding the basketball were impressive. He was able to score around the basket, get to the free throw line, and make free throws. We don’t win this game without J-Wit. He was fantastic. We needed him to have his best game of the season and I’m just really happy and really proud of him.”
It was the perfect time to have his best game of the season.
“It was doubly special,” Withers said. “It was great not only to have my first double-double as a Tar Heel, but to have that against my previous team was karma. So I think that that alone, says it all.”
Withers had some banter with his former teammates, including Mike James talking about one of their favorite Louisville Mexican restaurant after Withers made a free throw. He missed the second attempt after that exchange.
But it was Withers’ spicy play and aggressive drives to the basket that drew fouls that made a difference in the second half.
“I think that with my athleticism, my ability to get to the rim or finish, make athletic plays is really high,” Withers said. “I think that it’s really high. I really was focusing in on that in the second half.”
There were plenty of highlights along the way, from a soaring Elliot Cadeau dunk — did he really jump that high? — to the return of Cormac Ryan’s perimeter shooting stroke. The Tar Heels shared the ball well (19 assists on 26 field goals) and continued their run of good defense (other than the early part of the second half).
UNC (14–3, 6–0 ACC), as expected, was ultimately too much for Louisville (6–11, 1–5), winning five straight ACC games by double-digits for the first time since 2007–08. The leading scorer on yet another opponent got held down as James scored only nine points.
Ryan had been in a perimeter funk since the Kentucky game and was 4 of 17 in the last four games before making 4 of 7 3-point attempts against the Cardinals for 14 points. He caught no breaks from the referees, though, with three of the four fouls whistled against him questionable calls.
“We needed his outside jump shots tonight,” Coach Davis said, “because when he scores from the outside, it opens up everything for Mondo and Elliot, everybody is able to drive and he was big for us.”
RJ Davis pulled down six rebounds with six assists and his four 3-pointers gave him multiple 3s in 14 consecutive games, one short of Justin Jackson’s school record during the 2016–17 season. He is the first player since Manek (against N.C. State, Louisville and Duke) to make four 3-pointers in three straight games.
Armando Bacot (19 points, seven rebounds) passed Lennie Rosenbluth (2,047 points) for fourth on the all-time UNC scoring list (2,061) and Virginia’s Ralph Sampson (1,511) for fourth on the all-time ACC rebounding list. With his three blocks, he passed Warren Martin (190) for fourth-most in school history with 191.
Coach Davis had a simple explanation about why the Cardinals cut the lead to five in the second half.
“We weren’t playing any defense,” said Coach Davis, who preached in the huddle that his team lacked a commitment to defense and they had to start playing defense without fouling and rebounding.
“One of the things that I always tell the team is, whether something good or bad happens, the only thing you really have control over is how you react and how you respond,” he said. “So, when they cut it to five, I love how we reacted and how we responded.”
Ryan said that UNC came out in the second half with lackadaisical play.
“That’s something that hasn’t been the case in the past couple games,” Ryan said. “It’s something we’ve just got to remember is important is coming out hungry and playing with energy, especially out of halftime. You can’t have that lull and mental errors and stuff like that.”
RJ Davis said that the Tar Heels didn’t play with the same energy in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
“We didn’t really stay aggressive throughout the whole second half,” he said. “We kind of allowed them to get back into the game and allowed them to find their rhythm. Games like that, we can’t do that. Just got to extend the lead and keep the foot on the gas.”
UNC took early control with consecutive Ryan 3-pointers and a Davis 3, building a 15–4 lead five minutes into the game in an 11–0 run, the 11th run of at least 10 consecutive points this season.
Carolina hit a lull with eight consecutive missed shots while Davis, Ryan and Bacot were on the bench, allowing Louisville to cut a 16-point lead to 12. A Ryan 3-pointer ended a more than five minute field goal drought to push the lead to 15 with 6:34 left. The Tar Heels led by as many as 20 points before taking a 46–29 halftime lead.
Louisville made nine of its first 10 shots after halftime, and a James 3-pointer capped a 12–2 run with 12:39 left to trim UNC’s lead to five. But Withers scored six points against his former team on a 13–4 run to shove the lead to 13. Layups by Bacot and Cadeau and a Davis 3-pointer expanded the lead to 16 with 3:18 left.
Guard Skyy Clark led Louisville with 16 points and four 3-pointers.
NOTES — Carolina visits Boston College (11–6, 2–4) at 2:15 Saturday (The CW). It will be the Eagles’ first game since beating Notre Dame 63–59 on Monday to snap a two-game losing streak. … This is UNC’s first 6–0 ACC start since starting the 2015–16 league season 8–0. … Carolina has won five consecutive meetings with Louisville and leads the all-time series 20–7, including 4–0 under Coach Davis and 6–1 at the Smith Center. … Carolina is 8–2 starting Davis, Cadeau, Ryan, Ingram and Bacot. … Wednesday’s game was UNC’s last regular season 9 p.m. game and the first time it has played consecutive home games since beating Tennessee on Nov. 29 and Florida State on Dec. 2. … Jenna Reneau was one of the three referees for the game. She’s worked 24 NBA games since 2021, including seven this season.
No. 4 UNC 86, Louisville 70
UNC season statistics
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
| No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
| Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
| Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
| Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
| Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
| Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
| N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
| Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
| Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
| Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
| Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photos via @UNC_Basketball
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