UNC fan ejected after exchange with Louisville coach Rick Pitino

It’s nothing completely new; many analysts made that declaration in November after the Tar Heels’ red-hot start at the Maui Invitational. It was the first time since December 30, 2015, that Pinson, who finished with 11 points, had made multiple 3-pointers in a game. “I just feel there’s no excuse for poor foul shooting”. That’s only 39.7 percent from the field. And Louisville played like a team that still has to learn a thing or two about getting there. UNC hit four threes in the first half, while Louisville relentlessly attacked inside, scoring 26 of their 30 points in the paint. “But give them a lot of credit”.

Roy Williams has his program in position to win its eighth ACC regular-season title in 14 seasons. After the Cards pulled to within two, 45-43, on a three from Donovan Mitchell (21 points), the Tar Heels put together their best stretch.

Louisville are yet to defeat (0-5) a top-25 ACC opponent this season.

Justin Jackson, who led the Tar Heels in scoring seven of the last eight games, leads four North Carolina players averaging in double-digits this season with 18.6 points per game. Louisville was 5 of 20 on 3-pointers, 4 of 13 on free throws and lost 16 turnovers, which led to 14 UNC points.

Trend: The OVER is 9-2 in the Cardinals’ last 11 games. They made 21 of 29 free throws. And officials from other leagues not seeing Isaiah Hicks and starting to blow their whistles.

This season is just another example of UNC digging its heels in (sorry, no pun intended) at the ideal time.

In the end UNC won their 16th-straight home game. For all intensive purposes, the victor of this game will likely go on to be a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament, as well as the ACC-regular season champion, so much is at stake for these blue blood programs.

The final score of rival Duke’s buzzer-beating loss at Syracuse had just appeared on the video board. The Orange’s win meant that the Tar Heels, with a victory of their own, could take a full two-game lead atop the ACC standings.

Up next is Pittsburgh on Saturday.

One reliable way for UNC to secure a No. 1 seed is to win the outright ACC regular-season crown. Junior forward Justin Jackson believes that’s a good thing because there is still room to grow.