UNC vs. Louisville: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

After a poor first half in all facets, Louisville was a completely different group in the second half and overtime en route to a 78-68 victory over North Carolina on Saturday.

The Tar Heels led by 11 at halftime and by as many as 18 early in the second half, but Montrezl Harrell inspired a dramatic comeback in front of a raucous Louisville crowd. 

Harrell ended up with an impressive 22 points, 15 rebounds and two steals and carried the team down the stretch, while Terry Rozier added 22 points and 10 rebounds and Chris Jones chipped in 17 points, five rebounds and four assists. 

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Apparently, grabbing a sizable lead in the games between Louisville and North Carolina is not a great idea considering the Cardinals had a double-digit lead in the first matchup before the Tar Heels came back to win. The Cardinals avenged that loss in a big way at home.

Marcus Paige led the way for North Carolina in Saturday's loss with 15 points, four assists and four rebounds, but he did turn the ball over five times. 

The Louisville crowd showed up for the marquee ACC game dressed for a whiteout, but those in the crowd were far from the only ones dressed to impress, via Scott Utterback of The Courier-Journal:

Louisville jumped out to a lead, but the most important early development was when North Carolina's Brice Johnson picked up his second foul before the first television timeout. Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal also noted that the Cardinals used a similar strategy to the one that worked in the first matchup to limit North Carolina's offense:

Despite Johnson's absence on the floor, the Tar Heels battled back when the Cardinals went ice-cold from the field. Andrew Carter of The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer passed along the alarming early numbers from the field:

The drought only got worse as Louisville entered the under-eight-minute timeout in the first half with 10 consecutive missed shots. North Carolina established a 21-13 lead, and The Student Section Twitter feed pointed out that one man in the building was more frustrated than the fans with the shooting:

As the Tar Heels extended their lead to double digits, Aaron Dodson of The Daily Tar Heel acknowledged what the Cardinals' problem was in the first half:

Halftime mercifully came for the Cardinals, and they found themselves behind 36-25. Nothing really went right for Louisville, as it shot an abysmal 7-of-27 from the field and 8-of-15 from the free-throw line. The Tar Heels also held a 27-16 rebounding advantage at intermission and pounded Louisville down low on both sides of the floor.

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Louisville coach Rick Pitino was likely unhappy with the first-half rebounding totals given his pregame comments, according to The Associated Press, via Fox Sports: "We have to do a much better job on the backboards. I expect Montrezl Harrell to do a much better job than he did at North Carolina, rebounding-wise."

The start of the second half didn't look much different for the Tar Heels, as they opened up their biggest lead of the game following a Paige three-pointer and a couple of other easy baskets. Greer described the action:

Suddenly, the crowd and the Cardinals woke up a bit after Chris Jones drilled a three and forced a turnover that led to an easy basket. Carter noted that the Louisville defense was key in the mini-spurt:

The full-court press forced multiple turnovers and helped the Cardinals climb back to within single digits. What's more, North Carolina had more to worry about than just the shrinking deficit, as Dodson pointed out:

The Cardinals crowd came alive after the play of the game, with just more than 12 minutes remaining, when Harrell skied above the rim for a monster jam. ESPN Highlights had the replay, while Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated said what every Tar Heel fan was worried about with so much time left:

While the full-court press and Harrell's dunk were critical in the comeback effort, Ross Martin of 247Sports realized that Harrell's emergence down low for the Cardinals was crucial:

Louisville completed the 18-point comeback when Harrell split two defenders and converted an and-1 opportunity with just more than eight minutes remaining to tie the game at 53. ESPN's Bomani Jones pointed out that the Tar Heels seemed to be running on fumes:

Carter noted that North Carolina's foul troubles weren't getting any better down the stretch:

With the Tar Heels dealing with foul concerns, the Cardinals pounded it down low to the red-hot Harrell. He rewarded them with another and-1 to tie the game at 59 with just less than four minutes remaining. More importantly, Johnson fouled out of the game on the play. Greer had some good news for Louisville fans:

Right on cue, Isaiah Hicks fouled out less than a minute later, which left the Tar Heels with a depleted lineup on the floor for crunch time. 

The scoring stalled for a couple of minutes, which set the stage for a dramatic finish. It was tied at 60 with less than 40 seconds remaining when Louisville forced a steal and had a chance to win on the final possession. Harrell's potential game-winning three-pointer clanked off the back of the iron and sent the game into overtime. 

Jeff Borzello of ESPN didn't agree with the play call:

Fortunately for the Cardinals, they carried their momentum over from the end of regulation into overtime behind a deafening crowd. Davis noted that Wayne Blackshear picked a perfect time to connect on his first basket of the game:

ESPN Stats & Info explained just how cold the Tar Heels were down the stretch:

Louisville didn't just win the overtime—it flat-out dominated after Blackshear's three-pointer. Jones connected on a critical three-point play to put the Cardinals up by 10, and the Tar Heels missed several free throws on the other end. 

Much to the crowd's delight, Louisville finished off the comeback with a 78-68 victory.

What's Next? 

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North Carolina doesn't have a lot of time to lick its wounds.

The Tar Heels return home for a clash with No. 2 Virginia on Monday in a critical game atop the ACC standings. It represents a chance to make a national statement for North Carolina, especially after Saturday's collapse, but the Cavaliers aren't the easiest opponent to play when looking for a bounce-back effort.

As for Louisville, it has to deal with a potential trap game at Miami on Tuesday.

The Cardinals are coming off their most emotional win of the season and will have to get up for a game against a dangerous mid-tier opponent in an ACC that is loaded at the top. Saturday's win won't mean nearly as much if Louisville cannot back it up with a win against the Hurricanes.