Duke and Virginia are hoping to come out of the ACC as the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament, but several other teams are hoping to play upset during the conference tournament and ruin their chances. The North Carolina Tar Heels and Louisville Cardinals are certainly two of those teams, but they have to get past each other first in order to do so as they meet in hopes of gaining a semifinal berth.
Louisville has thrived in conference tournaments of the past. They have won three straight conference tournaments along with 10 consecutive tournament games, but none have been in the ACC. The Cardinals are seeing success in their first year in the conference, currently ranked at No. 14 overall, but they have yet to taste tournament success with the league. Now they get their first taste against the Tar Heels.
The two games between the Tar Heels and Cardinals were true battles which should make this a matchup to watch. Louisville one the first game in overtime while the Tar Heels got the 72-71 win a few weeks later. Both teams have overcome big deficits in each game so no lead is safe especially in the conference tournament.
The issue for the Tar Heels could be injuries. Kennedy Meeks is dealing with sickness and is not expected to play in this game. That leaves North Carolina without their No. 3 scorer, scoring 12.0 points per game. Theo Pinson could also be out while nursing a sore left foot. He returned after healing the broken bone, but there is no guarantee he comes back. Justin Jackson is caring the load, putting up his sixth straight double-digit scoring performance with 12 points against Boston College. Marcus Paige is also needed while dealing with an improved foot injury that has been hampering him since January.
The Cardinals finished the regular season with a big win over Virginia. Montrezl Harrell put up 20 points and 12 rebounds in the game while having 22 points and 15 rebounds in his last game against North Carolina. Louisville has had plenty of rest over the past week and come in healthy which could them the advantage over North Carolina.
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