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Louisville basketball: Cards look to sweep UNC in Ali themed uniforms

By Andy Harrell

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 12: Luke Maye #32 of the North Carolina Tar Heels battles Christen Cunningham #1 of the Louisville Cardinals for a loose ball during the second half of their game at the Dean Smith Center on January 12, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Louisville won 83-62. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 12: Luke Maye #32 of the North Carolina Tar Heels battles Christen Cunningham #1 of the Louisville Cardinals for a loose ball during the second half of their game at the Dean Smith Center on January 12, 2019 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Louisville won 83-62. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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Louisville basketball and the North Carolina Tarheels prepare to meet again for a heavyweight showdown Saturday. Can the Cards pull off the sweep?

Roy Williams’s #9 North Carolina Tarheels will enter the KFC Yum! Center Saturday afternoon out for revenge. Dawning a “white-out” jersey stylized after the city’s favorite son, Muhammad Ali, the surging #15 ranked Louisville basketball program will be looking for a knock out blow to the speculation that they’re atop the league merely due to a weak conference schedule thus far.

Both teams enter Saturday’s contest with one loss in conference play and vying for league supremacy with front runners Duke and Virginia. Louisville having played one more game sits at 7-1 while UNC is 6-1. A victory in Saturday’s game would springboard the winner into a 3 way tie for first place in the league (before the results of the rest of the day’s games).

Anyone involved enough to be reading this is well familiar with the 21 point thumping the Cards put on UNC in their first meeting this season. The trio of Jordan Nwora, Dwayne Sutton and Steven Enoch, each having 17 points, pushed the Cards over the top in Chapel Hill, handing the Tar Heels their only conference loss as of yet.

This was the Cardinals first victory over the Tar Heels in their last 3 attempts and only their third victory over UNC as a member of the ACC, in 9 contests. But it was certainly a convincing one. Many, if not all, basketball experts have rated this among the most meaningful conference wins for any ACC team this season.

Despite this victory and the nation’s 3rd most difficult schedule, Louisville’s conference slate has, statistically, been the easiest amongst all of the ACC members. That narrative will soon change though, as Saturday’s game starts an unprecedented gauntlet for the Cardinals. Six of Louisville’s 10 remaining regular season games will come against teams currently in the Top 25, five of those teams in the 15, and four of those in the Top 10.

Garbed in white and ready for a fight, The Louisville Cardinals are primed for a heavyweight rematch. Here are Big Red Louie’s,  “Louisville vs UNC: What to Watch For”.

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