LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville men’s basketball started 2025 in style with an 83-70 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels on Wednesday evening in the KFC Yum! Center.
“I am proud of our guys,” said head coach Pat Kelsey. “It was a heck of a win. Obviously, Carolina is extremely talented. They are as good of a downhill, transition attacking team in American as you’ll see – maybe the best. We really had to be on transition defense and block out, which are two things we really, really harped on. I thought our guys were really good in that regard. It was probably our best defensive effort of the year. Terrence Edwards, who has been phenomenal for us scoring the ball, I didn’t even know that he was two-for-12 from the field and only had seven points because his defensive performance was outstanding. He wasn’t the only guy who guarded RJ Davis, but he guarded him the majority of the time. He (Davis) is a terrific player, as we all know, very, very decorated, an All-American. I thought Fatt (Edwards) did a phenomenal job. Chucky was amazing – 27 (points), seven (assists) and two (rebounds) was an elite performance. I thought James Scott was great at the end of the game, to close out the game with a block and a big rebound and a dunk. Chucky (Hepburn) and Noah (Waterman) were banged up the last couple days. Katie Creznic, who is our sports medicine trainer and doesn’t get enough credit, she is phenomenal. She came with us from Charleston. The job she did around the clock with those guys the last couple days to get them ready to play was huge. It was a great atmosphere. Great crowd was amazing when Reyne (Smith) hit that shot. That Yum! roar that I have talked about so much. I got to hear it and it had a major impact on the game. Thank everyone for coming out and being a true factor.”
Louisville started off hot, taking a quick 12-7 lead to begin the game. North Carolina took a one-point lead with a go-ahead 3-pointer at 10:15, but Louisville immediately responded with seven straight points to take a lead of 21-15.
While the Cardinals made numerous attempts to pull away, the Tar Heels wouldn’t let them get further away than eight points. Five straight points from UNC’s RJ Davis pulled the Tar Heels within three, but Louisville pushed the advantage back up, ending the half with a 37-31 lead.
The Cardinals put their foot on the gas out of the break, gaining a nine-point lead just two and a half minutes into the half.
From 15:21 to 12:30 it was a cat and mouse game as the two teams exchanged buckets, going back and forth between a seven- and nine-point differential.
It started to click for the Tar Heels and Carolina used an 11-2 run to tie the game up at 61-all by 8:37, but the drama wouldn’t end there.
Louisville regained a lead of 70-64 with just under six minutes remaining before North Carolina scored five straight in the next 50 seconds to cut the Cardinal edge back to a single point.
UofL is now a perfect 9-0 when leading with five minutes to play because the Cardinals went on to finish the game on a 13-1 run, shutting out the Tar Heels from scoring a field goal in the final five minutes. The Cardinals also forced four Carolina miscues in that same stretch, coming up with big-time defensive stops.
A Reyne Smith 3-pointer at the 2:12 mark truly sparked that run and was followed up by a huge James Scott dunk to keep it going.
Chucky Hepburn making 16 free throws, including seven in that final stretch, tied the school record for made free throws in a game and ultimately clinched the victory.
Hepburn scored 16 points overall, making 5 of 8 from the floor and adding seven assists while doing it.
Reyne Smith went 4 of 10 from long range and netted two other shots inside the arc to score 17 in his 27 minutes.
North Carolina’s Ian Jackson had a team-high 23 points on 7 of 15 shooting. He added four rebounds, one block, one assist and a steal.
Louisville heads out to Charlottesville, Va., to face the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network.
