Louisville basketball: Predictions for Cards vs. UNC in quarterfinals

Louisville basketball goes head-to-head with UNC in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals tonight, and our team predicts the outcome. Will the Cards be victorious?

Louisville basketball is back in the ACC Quarterfinals tonight and will meet a familiar foe in No. 2 seed North Carolina. The Cards shellacked the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill in early January, but the Heels returned the favor in Louisville a few weeks later. Who will take the rubber match in Charlotte?

North Carolina has been red-hot since the Louisville loss going an impressive 14-1 since the Cards blowout win in the Dean Dome. The lone loss in this stretch for the Heels only coming to the team they shared the regular season ACC title with—Virginia. Carolina might just be the hottest team in the country and the Cards will certainly have to be locked in from the tip.

Carolina has found their offensive identity in the form of a three-headed monster: Freshman guard Coby White, and seniors Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson. In true Roy Williams fashion this squad looks to push the pace, control the glass, and works inside-out to find their lengthy and lethal knockdown shooters on the perimeter. Can the Louisville defense that stymied the Irish last night reappear in a huge manner in Charlotte?

Louisville looks to fully regain their confidence, close out a big game down the stretch, and add another big win to their résumé with the final exam beginning next week. Can Louisville slow down the #3 team in the country? Will the Cards finally execute for a full forty minutes? The BRL team is here with all the answers.

Nick Conner: 

The Cards are BACK. Louisville starts hot again and rediscovers the magic they found in Chapel Hill in January. The Cards compete on the glass, make shots down the stretch, and finally close out a tough game.

Louisville 76, North Carolina 72

Jacob Lane:

Wasn’t it nice to watch Louisville blow out a lesser opponent again? Chris Mack said after Virginia “I noticed a different spirit about our team the last couple of weeks,” and I think you saw that last night in the big win. Normally you’d worry about this team coming back out and laying an egg because we saw it so many times this year, but with that “new spirit” I think you’ll see a focused and energized team. Louisville will outrebound UNC, but will struggle with containing Coby White in the open floor. However, I think this game will go down to the wire due to a huge game from Jordan Nwora. Just compete, and hope for the best.

Louisville 71, North Carolina 74

Presley Meyer:

Coming off of a dominant performance against a reeling Notre Dame team, Louisville is now faced with the daunting task of trying to beat the hottest team in the country. Luckily for the Cards, they match up very well with this UNC team. There’s probably no way we see a repeat of the UNC game in Chapel Hill, but if Louisville can rebound effectively and make open looks I think they have a shot of springing the upset. In the end, I think UNC makes a couple shots late to put it away, but Cards fans walk away feeling confident about the big dance.

 Louisville 72, North Carolina 76

Ross Prophater:

The Cards seem to be turning a corner. They’ve put together three games in a row where they’ve made positive progress and are finding themselves again. Jordan Nwora and Ryan McMahon both said in their post-game comments that they are aware the team has to pound the glass and keep UNC out of transition in order to win.. I think the Cards bring their “A Game” tonight against the Tar Heels and win a nail biter

Louisville 80, North Carolina 77 

Louisville fans:

With a win tonight Louisville would move into the ACC Tournament semifinals for the first time since joining the ACC, an achievement that nobody thought was possible just a few short months ago. But first, we’ll see if the Cards are able to put together another performance similar to the one that netted them a 21 point victory back in January, or at least play in a close competitive game. Don’t be surprised to see Louisville get a chance to move past their late-game ghosts and earn a hard fought victory of the Tar Heels.

As always, Go Cards.