Louisville vs. North Carolina preview: Cards and Heels meet in ACC Tournament quarterfinals

NO. 4 LOUISVILLE CARDINALS (24-7) vs. NO. 5 NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS (22-10)

Game Time: 30 minutes after the end of the noon quarterfinal (approximately 2:30 p.m.)

Location: Greensboro Coliseum: Greensboro, N.C.

Television: ESPN/ACC Network (WAVE-3 locally)

Announcers: ESPN: Sean McDonough (play-by-play), Shane Battier (analyst), and Allison Williams (reporter). ACC Network (WAVE-3 in Louisville): Tim Brant (play-by-play) and Mike Gminski (analyst).

Favorite: North Carolina by 2.5

All-Time Series: North Carolina leads 10-4

Last Meeting: Louisville won 78-68 in overtime at the Yum Center on Jan. 31

Projected Starters:

NORTH CAROLINA

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Marcus Paige 6-1 Jr. 2.9 13.6

F-J.P. Tokoto 6-6 Jr. 5.6 8.6

F-Justin Jackson 6-8 Fr. 3.7 10.1

F-Brice Johnson 6-9 Jr. 7.9 12.7

C-Joel James 6-10 Jr. 1.8 2.7

LOUISVILLE

Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts.

G-Quentin Snider 6-1 Fr. 1.3 3.2

G-Terry Rozier 6-1 So. 5.4 17.0

F-Wayne Blackshear 6-5 Sr. 4.3 10.7

F-Montrezl Harrell 6-8 Jr. 9.4 15.8

C-Chinanu Onuaku, 6-10 Fr. 4.9 3.4

Series History:

Statistics:

Relevant Video:

About North Carolina:

The fifth-seeded Tar Heels advanced to Thursday's quarterfinal round with an 81-63 win over Boston College, where star guard Marcus Paige scored 17 points and handed out 9 assists. Carolina and Louisville have played two memorable games already and will be meeting for a third time this season. On Jan. 10 in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels beat the Cardinals, 72-71, on a layup in the closing seconds by Marcus Paige. Three weeks later, Louisville overcame an 18-point, second-half deficit and beat Carolina in overtime, 78-68, at the KFC Yum Center.

Notable

--Louisville has won 10 consecutive conference tournament games and three consecutive conference tournament titles. The Cardinals have reached their conference tournament championship game in each of the last four seasons.

--North Carolina is 113-29 all-time at the Greensboro Coliseum, and 37-17 in ACC Tournament games played there.

--Louisville has won 15 of its last 17 conference tournament games.

--Rick Pitino is 48-13 in conference tournaments with 12 championships, including six at U of L.

--A No. 4 seed has not won the ACC Tournament since North Carolina did it in 1989.

--North Carolina's 17 ACC Tournament titles are the second most in league history, behind only Duke (19).

--Louisville has never lost an ACC Tournament game.

--Louisville has a 26-5 record during the month of March over the last four years.

--Louisville is the only school in the nation with three straight 30 win seasons, including a school-record 35 victories amassed by Louisville's 2012-13 NCAA Championship team (30 in 2011- 12, 31 in 2013-14).

--North Carolina is 41-13 all-time in ACC Tournament quarterfinal games.

--North Carolina is 14-8 all-time in the ACC Tournament against No. 4 seeds.

--Louisville has won 8 of their last 9 conference tournament games where its opponent was ranked in the AP Top 25.

--Wayne Blackshear will be looking to play in his 100th career victory today.

--Louisville is 1-2 all-time as a No. 4 seed in conference tournaments.

--U of L is 160-9 over the last 14 seasons under Coach Rick Pitino when scoring 80 or more points (20-1 last season, 11-1 in 2012-13).

--Louisville is 49-12 all-time when playing against worse-seeded teams in conference tournament games.

--Wayne Blackshear needs 39 points to become Louisville's 67th all-time 1,000-point scorer.

Ken Pomeroy Prediction: North Carolina 72, Louisville 69