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No. 14 North Carolina tops Louisville 93-76

The Tar Heels (21-7, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored 10 straight points for a 12-3 lead before warming up from long range to eventually build a 19-point cushion before withstanding several Louisville rallies.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Joel Berry scored 23 points, Luke Maye had 13 rebounds and No. 14 North Carolina dominated the boards and second-chance points to beat Louisville 93-76 Saturday night for its fifth consecutive victory.

The Tar Heels (21-7, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored 10 straight points for a 12-3 lead before warming up from long range to eventually build a 19-point cushion before withstanding several Louisville rallies. UNC made eight from behind the arc in the first half alone and 12 of 27 overall in a fast pace that Louisville struggled to keep up with.

Maye's rebounding offset a slow shooting start and helped the Tar Heels win the glass 44-32 and frequently get timely offensive boards to outscore the Cardinals 22-6 in second-chance points.

Theo Pinson and Maye each had 19 points, Cameron Johnson 12 and Kenny Williams 11 as North Carolina won its first visit to Louisville in five tries.

Louisville (18-9, 8-6) got within single digits several times but no closer than seven in having its two-game winning streak end. Deng Adel returned from a two-game absence with an ankle injury to score 20 points and Ray Spalding 18 with 12 rebounds.

BIG PICTURE

North Carolina: The Tar Heels finally won in Louisville on their fifth try by being in the right place at the right time throughout. Every time Louisville seemed intent on making it a game, they'd answer with a 3 or came up with a rebound and putback to stay safely ahead. They shot 48 percent and broke 90 points for the third time in their current streak.

Louisville: The Cardinals' bench dominated 35-9 thanks to Adel, who came off the bench to make 8 of 12 from the field. But they couldn't stop Carolina from getting multiple chances and lost the paint battle 42-38. Most importantly, they missed another chance to get their signature win they've sought all season.

UP NEXT

North Carolina visits Syracuse on Wednesday night.

Louisville visits Duke on Wednesday night in search of its first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since joining the ACC.

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