Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
The North Carolina Tar Heels travel to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals in ACC action on Saturday. After reaching the NCAA Tournament Final last season and starting the year as the preseason #1 team in the country, the Tar Heels have started slowly at just 11-6 and find themselves completely out of the Top-25. Louisville, meanwhile, has completely fallen apart and sit at 2-15 on the season with a depleted roster. The opening tap for this matchup is scheduled for 2:00pm EST.
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North Carolina has not quite lived up to the preseason billing this season with five losses against Top-25 competition as well as a two-point loss to Pittsburgh. North Carolina is now just 11-6 on the season and 3-3 in ACC play. On Tuesday night, the Tar Heels added injury to insult in a 65-58 loss to #13 Virginia on the road. North Carolina's leading scorer and rebounder, Armando Bacot, had to leave the game early with an ankle injury. His status for this game is undetermined at this time. RJ Davis led the Heels with 16 points and Caleb Love and Jalen Washington chipped in with 13 points apiece. North Carolina shot just 39% from the field in the game.
Final.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/Fqu3eNMeTN
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 11, 2023
The Tar Heels come into this matchup with the 19th best scoring offense in the country. They have been poor from long range, ranked just 253rd in the country. The Heels are efficient, ranked 50th in turnovers this season. The North Carolina defense has been below average thus far this season. They are ranked 263rd in scoring defense and 227th in 3pt range. The Tar Heels have length and that comes through on the glass, with the team ranked 19th in the country.
Key Injuries: Bacot could miss this game with an ankle injury while F Pete Nance is also questionable with a back injury.