Louisville and North Carolina were in dire need of a rematch. When these two teams met in Chapel Hill on Jan. 10, Marcus Paige hit a layup with time running down to give the Tar Heels a victory that turned around their season. Roy Williams' team hadn't lost since, while Louisville had been patiently waiting to get its revenge.
Louisville finishes off an amazing comeback to defeat North Carolina, 78-68
Montrezl Harrell and the Cardinals overcame an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat the Tar Heels in overtime.
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The sequel was as good as anyone could have hoped for. Louisville came out flat in the first half, allowing UNC to take an 11-point lead into halftime. The second half was a different story, though, as Louisville began dominating the paint to force overtime and eventually steal a 78-68 win over the Tar Heels.
Louisville trailed by 18 at one point in the second half, but junior big man Montrezl Harrell wasn't prepared to let the Cardinals lose. Harrell was a monster on the interior and on the glass in the final 25 minutes to finish with 22 points and 15 rebounds. He also did this:
Harrell had a look at a wide-open three to win the game in regulation, but the shot missed. In overtime, a big three-pointer by senior Wayne Blackshear for his first points of the game extended the Louisville lead -- one it never relinquished.
Terry Rozier was uneven for the Cardinals, but he hit some big shots down the stretch. Rozier finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds on 6-of-20 shooting in the win. Chris Jones shot 4-of-14 for 17 points, including seven in the extra period.
It wasn’t the best shooting night for the Cardinals. The team only shot 33.8 percent from the floor and 61.4 percent from the foul line, but the defense was good enough to get the win. Louisville forced UNC into 19 turnovers. If the story of the game was Louisville’s ability to turn defense into offense, then it’s a familiar one.
Four Carolina scorers finished in double-figures, led by 15 points from Paige.
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