No. 15 Louisville aims for sweep of No. 9 UNC

Louisville is on its best stretch ever in the Atlantic Coast Conference, a sample size that involves only five seasons.

With six wins in a row, the No. 15 Cardinals hold a share of first place going into a critical showdown Saturday afternoon against No. 9 North Carolina

The game in Louisville, Ky., marks a rematch of a contest that sent Louisville off on the current streak.

"We move on to a big game Saturday, as big as it gets," Cardinals coach Chris Mack said.

Louisville stunned North Carolina by 83-62 on Jan. 12 in Chapel Hill, N.C. It was the first of what has become three ACC road victories by margins of more than 20 points for the Cardinals.

North Carolina (16-4, 6-1 ACC) has won four games in a row since the loss to Louisville.

"We have a little momentum, and they're four ACC wins which anyone will take," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said of his team's recent success. "I talked about us getting better the entire season, and I think we're doing some of that."

In the past five games, Louisville (16-5, 7-1) has encountered only one ranked team -- winning at home against North Carolina State.

"People are going to analyze our schedule," Mack said. "All I'm going to do is try to figure out how to beat North Carolina, which isn't an easy task."

This matchup against the Tar Heels marks the first of four straight games for Louisville against teams currently in the national rankings.

Mack said he likes the way his team is playing, with things clicking since that first North Carolina game.

"I felt like that Saturday in early January that we were the harder-playing team," Mack said. "That doesn't give us any cushion or any advantage (this) Saturday."

Still, there are issues to address for the Cardinals. Wake Forest pulled in 20 offensive rebounds Wednesday night, though Louisville won 82-54 on the road.

"We've got to do a better job on the glass," Mack said. "Twenty is just way, way too many."

North Carolina is the ACC's top rebounding team with a plus-9.9 rebounding differential.

The Tar Heels have suddenly heated up with their shooting. They've made a total of 29 baskets from 3-point range across the past two games, marking the most in a two-game period in team history.

"The ball started going in the basket and everything looked a lot better," Williams said.

Oddly, in the Tar Heels' 77-54 rout Georgia Tech on Tuesday night in Atlanta, North Carolina was limited to one second-chance point despite missing 32 shots from the field.

"We didn't get in there and get any offensive rebounds," Williams said.

Senior Luke Maye was held to a season-low four points on 2-for-9 shooting against the Yellow Jackets.

"I've never seen Luke Maye play a game like that, so he got that game out of his system," Williams said.

Louisville, Duke and Virginia share first place in the ACC, while North Carolina is half-game back.

The Tar Heels are 4-0 in ACC road games for the first time in 11 seasons. They are 6-1 overall on the road this season, falling only to then-No. 7 Michigan.

--Field Level Media