Heel Tough Blog: Louisville Recap

It was a dramatic win for Carolina Basketball last night, as the Tar Heels overcame an early double-digit deficit to beat #24 Louisville, 77-74, to improve to 22-6 and 10-5 in the ACC. The Tar Heels were led by Seth Trimble, who scored a career high 30 points, on 11-16 shooting, including a thunderous dunk in the second half, that made the Smith Center erupt, as Carolina built a 56-40 lead. Carolina’s offense was efficient all night long, shooting 54% from the field, outscoring Louisville 40-24 in the paint. The offense was given a lift with timely perimeter shooting, as Carolina went 8-21 from behind the arc, for a respectable 36%, as five different Tar Heels made a three-pointer. Three UNC players reached the double-digit scoring plateau, as Trimble had help in the form of Luka Bogavac (12) and Henri Veesaar (12). 

Louisville raced out to a fast start, building a 23-13 lead, behind a barrage of three-pointers, before Carolina would take control of the game, going on an extended 43-17 run, which allowed them to lead at the half, and build a 16-point lead. But after a quick 7-0 run, the Cardinals made it known that it was going to take all 40 minutes for UNC to emerge victorious. And due to poor free-throw shooting, Louisville was able to make it a one-possession game, at 74-71, and they had a chance to tie the game with less than a minute left to play. But instead of shooting a perimeter shot, the Cardinals chose to drive to the basket, where Henri Veesaar was able to alter the shot, grab a defensive rebound, and UNC was able to close the game out from the foul line. The win kept Carolina undefeated at home, and improved their record to 6-6 in Quad 1, keeping their hopes of earning a double-bye in the ACC Tournament alive. 

If you look at the box score, it shouldn’t suggest that Carolina won the game, considering they allowed Louisville to make 14 three-pointers, the Cardinals were plus-9 on the glass, and the Tar Heels were just 9-19 from the foul line. The way Carolina overcame those deficiencies in the box score was that UNC outscored Louisville 40-24 in the paint. When Carolina plays inside-out, they are at their best, most efficient self as an offense, and that was on display last night. 

With the win, Carolina improved to 3-1 without Caleb Wilson, who reportedly may be back as early as the regular season finale at Duke. It also improved Carolina’s record to 6-6 in Quad 1, and keeps their hopes alive for earning a double-bye in the ACC Tournament. Here’s how Carolina picked up a marquee win, in front of a lively Smith Center crowd: 

1. Trimble Delivers: At halftime of the Syracuse game, the senior guard was challenged after only taking one shot. He responded, scoring 13 points and leading UNC to win on the road. He needed to carry that aggression over into last night’s game, and he certainly did so, scoring a career-high 30 points, on 11-16 shooting, while going 7-11 from the foul line. He set the tone with a big first half, scoring 16 points, on 7-10 shooting, and that carried into the second half, as Trimble now has a career defining game, to go along with his career defining shot against Duke. Even as Caleb Wilson nears his return, Trimble needs to stay in attack mode, as it raises Carolina’s ceiling as we inch closer to March. 

2. Veesaar Has Uneven Night: The box score will show you that Henir Veesaar scored 12 points and was a team-best +15 while on the floor. The box score will also tell you that he only had 2 rebounds in 30 minutes, and didn’t have a single rebound in the first half. For whatever reason, Veesaar struggled to bring down boards, and was a reason why Carolina was -9 on the glass. Nonetheless, he still made big plays when his team needed him, including a nice reverse dunk, as a result of some high-low action with Zayden High. 

3. High’s Energy: Speaking of Zayden High, his role continues to increase, and he continues to answer the call. The reserve big, played 16 minutes, but still managed to score 4 points, and grab 6 rebounds off the bench. He dove on the floor for a loose ball, which got the appraise from the Smith Center faithful, and in another important sequence, blocked a shot, grabbed a defensive rebound, and drew a foul while in the process. His emergence is the biggest blessing of the Caleb Wilson injury, as Carolina now has a quartet of big men to use over the span of 40 minutes. 

4. Jarin Stevenson Delivers…Again: The unsung hero of this team continues to be Jarin Stevenson, who has embraced every role Hubert Davis has thrown his way. Last night, Stevenson led Carolina in rebounds (7), recorded a huge block in the final moments when Louisville was making its final comeback attempt, and made some timely perimeter shots, on a night where Carolina shot 38% from behind the arc. His unselfishness has been a reason why Carolina has enjoyed the success they’ve enjoyed so far this season, and it’s nice to see him get rewarded with a performance like last night. 

5. Perimeter Defense: After Louisville hit a barrage of threes to start the game, as they built their 10-point lead, it looked like it was going to be another one of those games for the UNC defense. In fact, Pat Kelsey’s squad started the game 8-17 from behind the arc, a big reason why they controlled the first 12-15 minutes of the game. But Louisville would miss their next 9 threes, on their way to going 6-22 to finish the game, giving them 14 makes, but on 39 attempts for 36%, the same as Carolina. The Heels tightened up their rotations and did a better job contesting threes, doing just enough to overcome a high volume of makes from the outside.

6. Free Throw Shooting: 48 hours after going 15-28 from the foul line, Carolina went 9-19 from the stripe, for an even worse 47%, and had Carolina lost the game, this would’ve been the biggest talking point. While Trimble was only 7-11, Stevenson was 1-4, Derek Dixon was 1-2, and Henri Veesaar was 0-1. Meaning that UNC’s starters were 9-18 from the foul line last night, which simply isn’t good enough. At this point, it appears to be a mental block for this team, but regardless, it needs to be corrected by Saturday’s home game against Virginia Tech. 

Up Next: Carolina is back home on Saturday night against the Hokies. The tip is set for 8:30 on ESPN2.