| Game Preview: North Carolina | Date: Dec. 23, 1999 |
| Site: Freedom Hall | Records: U of L: 6-3, North Carolina 8-3 |
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| Oh, what a match-up it's gonna be when the North Carolina Tar Heels come into Freedom Hall for the first time ever. UNC did play once at Louisville, though in 1929 before the Hall was around. Although the 6th-ranked Tar Heels look to dominate the Cards, North Carolina is the one team you can say it's just an honor to have in Freedom Hall. Even U of L must be in awe of the storied tradition, and alumni roster, of North Carolina. |
| But still, the game does offers a thrilling group of player match-ups. How well will Dion Edward and Tobiah Hopper tag-team against UNC's 7-foot Brendan Haywood? Edward has been prone to foul trouble, and Hopper, coming off his best effort of the season against Tennessee State, will have to contribute for the Cards keep a balance on the inside. But the most intriguing match-up is in the backcourt. Will U of L's corps of guards be able to slow down or defend Ed Cota? And in a freshman vs. freshman duel, Joseph Forte, who's in the running for ACC Freshman of the Year, will show his stuff to Reece Gaines, who would love to have a breakout performance. |
| Truth be told it will be a stretch for the Cards to be able to beat North Carolina. North Carolina is fresh off a sound defeat against Indiana in the Jimmy V Classic, and will probably come in focused on getting a win. But with the most exciting game in Freedom Hall thus far this season, and with the first national TV game at home, the crowd will hopefully be full and active. A promising effort, a good game, can go a long way in establishing some credibility and confidence for this U of L team. |
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| Game Summary: North Carolina | Score: Louisville 97, North Carolina 80 |
| Leading Scorers: U of L: Nate Johnson (31) North Carolina: Max Owens (22) |
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| Are you kidding us? Had the final score been reversed, some U of L fans would have been content with keeping it under 20 against the Tar Heels. But like Coach Crum says, anything can happen on any given night, and on this night, everything happened for the Louisville Cardinals. |
| From the outset Louisville looked like they were on. A 7-2 run gave the Cards a 29-22 lead with 8:45 left in the first half. Then the Cards took charge with another 10-0 run, including two Marques Maybin dunks off of UNC turnovers. Overall in the opening period, U of L forced 15 turnovers that led to 23 points. Louisville was outrebounded by four but had more second-chance points than the Heels 11-4. Unbelievably, and Cards fans, don't get used to this, U of L did not commit a turnover in the entire first half (after which they led 50-35) and even then not until three minutes into the second half. And it was the match-up at point guard that was telling. |
| All-American senior Ed Cota of UNC did hand out a game-high nine assists, but he only scored six points and very much out of character committed seven turnovers. On the other hand, freshman Reece Gaines for U of L had 12 points, including 6-6 from the line, as well as four rebounds, seven assists, five steals and no turnovers. Amazing. Gaines had the game UofLHoops.com was calling for. Along similar lines, Tobiah Hopper also contributed, knocking down some shots that were just inside the three-point line from the top of the key. His nine points were huge for the Cards--indeed, U of L is a much stronger team when Tobiah Hopper provides scoring from the center position. It's a perfect complement to the way Dion Edward leads the team in rebounding, as he did again with seven. |
| After an 11-4 run midway through the second half, Nate Johnson hit a three to give U of L its biggest lead of the game at 19 with 9:15 remaining. The closest UNC got the rest of the was 11 at the 3:45 mark. Still unbelievable. How did we get a lead that big on North Carolina, and how did we score almost 100 points against them? |
| Nate Johnson had a lot to do with the scoring. He was the dominant player of the game, scoring a career-high 31 points on a sizzling 13-19 from the field including 4-8 shooting from three-point range. Headed into tonight's game, Nate had made only three three-pointers all season. He also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Marques Maybin had 20 points of 8-14 shooting, while Quentin Bailey hit for 10 points off the bench. Louisville finished with six turnovers compared to UNC's 21. The Cards also had 10 more assists then UNC, 24-14. |
| Amazing. Absolutely amazing. |
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