Louisville Bounces Back with Signature Win over UNC, Stays in ACC Title Race

Barely 48 hours after a demoralizing 16-point home loss to Virginia, No. 19 Louisville finally picked up a win it can hang its tournament resume on, upsetting No. 2 North Carolina by a score of 71-65.

Though the Cardinals defended well in both games, the offensive output could not have been more night and day. They struggled to get anything going against the Cavaliers on Saturday, as the starters combined to score just 20 points on 26 field-goal attempts, but they got to the rim pretty much at will against the Tar Heels.

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis succinctly summed up the offensive disparity in one tweet:

A stomach bug kept Chinanu Onuaku from ever getting going against Virginia, but he surely nauseated North Carolina fans by recording his seventh double-double in nine ACC games in just 23 minutes of action.

Damion Lee's two-day turnaround was just as impressive.

Louisville's leading scorer didn't have a single point in the first 30 minutes against the Cavaliers, only getting on the board long after the game had been decided. Quite the opposite, he was the deciding factor on Monday night, leading all scorers with 24 points on just 12 field-goal attempts.

Moreover, Lee was one heck of a nuisance on the defensive end of the floor as part of the perimeter assault that held Joel Berry and Marcus Paige to a combined 4-of-23 from the field.

According to Jeff Greer of the Courier-Journal, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino had a poignant postgame thought on how well his team bounced back from Saturday's sluggish performance:

"Coach really challenged us after our last home game, so we wanted to rebound well," Lee told ESPN's Kaylee Hartung after the game.

The Cardinals did so, both literally and figuratively.

North Carolina entered Monday night as one of the better rebounding teams in the country. Ranked ninth in offensive rebound percentage and 74th on the defensive end, the Tar Heels had an average rebounding margin of plus-9.3 per game. They finished minus-two on the glass against the Cardinals.

North Carolina also entered the game as one of the most turnover-averse teams in the country, ranking sixth in the nation in offensive turnover percentage. But the Tar Heels coughed the ball up a season-high 16 times against Louisville's tireless ball pressure.

The Tar Heels were a step slow on most of their defensive closeouts, and it sure seemed like Louisville was contesting shots before UNC was even thinking about attempting them.

But if it looked like the Cardinals wanted this game more than the Tar Heels did, it's because they needed it more.

Badly.

Though they competed admirably in road games against Michigan State and Kentucky, the Cardinals posted an 0-2 record against RPI Top 100 teams during the nonconference portion of the season. They've scored five such wins in ACC play, but nothing better than home wins over Pittsburgh and Florida State—neither of which is even remotely guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament.

A loss to North Carolina would have moved Louisville to 0-4 versus the RPI Top 25, and unless Duke (RPI: 27) or Pittsburgh (RPI: 29) can get back into that club, the Cardinals' only remaining chances (before the ACC tournament) to pick up a marquee win are road games against Miami and Virginia—and best of luck getting either win against two teams that are a combined 20-1 at home this year.

While they are in no danger whatsoever of actually missing the tournament, this was the type of win that could be the difference in a couple of seed lines on Selection Sunday. Because even with the loss, North Carolina is still very much in the running for the ACC title and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

It may be the only bright spot on Louisville's resume at the moment, but it sure does shine like the sun.

"The big story from this night is that nobody will ever ask again for the name of the one good team Louisville has actually beaten," wrote Gary Parrish for CBS Sports.

Better yet, now the Cardinals can enter the grueling part of their schedule with a boost of confidence.

Outside of Saturday's home game against Boston College, every remaining game for Louisville comes against a team ranked No. 52 or better on KenPom.com—and five of those eight games will be played on the road.

The last thing this team needed was a lingering national dialogue about its dearth of quality wins in advance of a road trip through Duke and Notre Dame. Instead, with a win over North Carolina in tow, the Cardinals might just be the Las Vegas favorite for Monday's game at Cameron Indoor Stadium—which happens about as often as Duke spends weeks outside the AP Top 25.

With the win, Louisville also stays within shouting distance of North Carolina for the ACC regular-season crown.

Had the Tar Heels won, they would have opened up a full three-game lead over the rest of the conference. Instead, Louisville sits just one game behind them with both teams scheduled to go through hell and back over the next five weeks.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Two years ago, while still a member of the American Athletic Conference, Louisville lost its only two nonconference games of any value before winning 18 of the next 21 games, securing a share of the AAC regular-season crown and the AAC conference tournament title.

For their efforts, the Cardinals were punished with a No. 4 seed.

Change the second letter in that acronym, though, and the story changes drastically. If Louisville can take a share of the ACC regular-season crown before winning the ACC tournament, a No. 1 seed just might still be in the cards.

There's a long way to go before that happens, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

Beating the Tar Heels was one giant leap for Louisville.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.