Tag: Grit

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Mikel Brown Jr., a 5-star point guard, made his commitment to the University of Louisville men’s basketball team official midway through first half of the Cards’ game against North Carolina Wednesday night.

Other than Brown, all the other 5-star prospects in the KFC Yum! Center wore the sky blue uniforms of Michael Jordan University.

North Carolina started three 5-stars and two 4-stars. North Carolina came to town averaging 86.5 points per game. North Carolina has R.J. Davis, the best all-around guard in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Toss in the advantage of the stylish Air Jordan attire and the Tar Heels had plenty of reasons to deliver on their status as the team projected to finish second behind Duke in the ACC this winter.

Didn’t happen.

Louisville had 5-star grit, resolve and poise. That mattered more. Considerably more.

Pat Kelsey’s team secured a victory that will resonate on Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament, dispatching UNC, 83-70. Credit Chucky Hepburn with 26 points, 16 by feasting at the free throw line, his reward for drawing 11 fouls.

“It was probably our best defensive effort of the year,” Kelsey said. 

“I can’t help but get above the trees a little bit and (beating UNC and getting the commitment from Brown), it makes you smile. It was a real cool night.”

Mark it down as the first time since Jan. 5, 2022 the Cardinals won back-to-back ACC games as well as the first time since Feb. 22, 2020 that Louisville defeated North Carolina.

That was a streak of 5 straight Tar Heels’ victories, by an average of 19 points. Louisville improved to 2-1 in the league and 9-5 overall. Consider it the signature victory of the 14-game Kelsey Era — and one more victory than this program achieved last season.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Kelsey said. “It was a heckuva win.”

“We had our chances,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. “Give credit to Louisville. They were very physical.”

Get this: Louisville never trailed by more than a point and that was merely for 24 seconds.

They watched the Tar Heels storm back to within 70-69 and have two possessions to take the lead. Didn’t happen.

It was the Cardinals who made the plays at winning time. Three free throws by  Hepburn. A crisp three-pointer from the right side of the key by Reyne Smith. A thunderous dunk in traffic by James Scott off a sly pass from Hepburn. Two more free throws by Hepburn, who finished with 26 points, 7 assists and 2 rebounds.

“An elite performance,” Kelsey said.

 “He’s a two-way player,” Davis said. “Defensively, on the ball, he’s real. He’s somebody who wants that type of challenge. He’s got great hands. He’s a gifted defender.”

Hepburn’s fingerprints were everywhere in that decisive 10-0 run over 1:48. North Carolina did not make a field goal over the final 5 minutes, missing its last four shots.

But don’t overlook how the game started. Davis is the Tar Heels’ leading scorer, a savvy fifth-year guard who has taken UNC to the Final Four. He averages nearly 19 points per game.

Davis scored 12, which equaled his season low over 14 games. He missed 10 of 14 shots, including his first four. He did not have a field goal for the first 15 minutes.

Instead of putting Hepburn on Davis, Kelsey gave the assignment to Terrance Edwards. Davis is generously listed at 6 feet tall. Edwards has 6 inches on him. Edwards performed like he had an advantage of 6 feet. Kelsey said that on Tuesday, after Edwards was informed that he would guard Davis, he started texting the assistant coaching staff with ideas on how he would handle the job.

“We decided we had to go with a little more size and length,” Kelsey said. “He really accepted the challenge. That dude was locked in.”

Louisville will visit Virginia Saturday for a game that will tip at 4 p.m. and then return home to play Clemson at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

But by winning, Louisville climbed from No. 58 to 54 in Ken Pomeroy’s computer formula and earned a victory that will matter on NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday. They will not play UNC again this season — unless the teams meet in the ACC Tournament.

Oh, and the Cards also signed the point guard who will replace Hepburn next season.

“A couple of great things happened tonight,” Kelsey said. “We beat North Carolina and Mikel makes his announcement. Sounds like the ReviVille to me.”

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