Terry Rozier, Student Section L's Louisville vs. North Carolina 1-31-2015 WHITEOUT Photo by Mark Blankenbaker

Cards Ring in New Year with Tar Heels

Mark BlankenbakerDecember 31, 2024

Louisville men’s basketball will ring in the New Year with North Carolina on Wednesday evening at home in the KFC Yum! Center. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.

Louisville has won two in a row, most recently its final non-conference game of the season, narrowly beating Eastern Kentucky 78-76. The Tar Heels have also won two in a row, beating Campbell 97-81 on Sunday in their non-conference finale.

Head coach Pat Kelsey is 0-2 in his career against North Carolina. UofL trails 7-20 in the all-time series between the two teams but holds a 5-4 edge in home contests.

Louisville’s five losses have all come to teams now ranked in the AP Top 25: No. 1 Tennessee, No. 4 Duke, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 24 Ole Miss . As of Dec. 30, those teams are a combined 56-6.
Senior guard Reyne Smith was named ACC Player of the Week on Dec. 23 for his 27-point performance at Florida State. It was just the third time in the program’s 11 years in the ACC that Louisville has had multiple ACC Player of the Week awards as Chucky Hepburn also earned that title on Dec. 2.
Against Florida State on Dec. 21, Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr. both logged eight assists apiece; it was the first Louisville game to have two Cardinals log at least eight assists each in the same game since Peyton Siva and Gorgui Deng both had eight against Syracuse in the 2013 Big East Tournament championship game.
Louisville played five ranked opponents before the New Year. The Cardinals have the 18th best strength of schedule according to KenPom as of Dec. 30.
Louisville’s 89-61 victory over No. 14/15 Indiana in the quarterfinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis was Louisville’s first win over a ranked team since beating No. 19/20 Virginia Tech 73-71 on Jan. 6, 2021. It’s the highest ranked opponent the Cards have beat since beating No. 3 Duke 79-73 on Jan. 18, 2020.
In the win over Indiana, UofL’s Chucky Hepburn logged 16 points, 10 assists and seven steals. He’s the first DI player with at least those marks since Markquis Nowell of Kansas State did it against West Virginia with 23 points on Dec. 31, 2022.
As of Dec. 31, Louisville is fourth in the country in 3-point attempts per game (32.5) and 44th in 3-pointers per game (9.7). Chucky Hepburn is eighth in the country in steals per game at 2.77 and sixth in total steals with 36. Reyne Smith is 16th in the country in 3-pointers per game at 3.38, sixth in total three-point attempts (118) and 13th in total 3-pointers made (44).
Against Winthrop on Nov. 22, Louisville logged 10 blocks, including seven in the first half. Sophomore James Scott blocked five on his own. The 10 total, seven in a half and Scott’s five were all the first time those feats happened for the Cardinals since March 7, 2018 against Florida State.
Fifth-year senior forward Kasean Pryor tore his ACL and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Junior guard Koren Johnson tore his labrum in his shoulder and will be out for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.