Louisville Basketball: 5 biggest league wins for Cardinals since joining ACC
By Caleb Hall
Louisville 82, No. 12 North Carolina 61: January 12th, 2019
In 2018-19 the Louisville Cardinals were under first year head coach Chris Mack who was expected to finish 11th in the ACC. Mack had other plans for them in 2019.
The Cardinals came into the game unranked at 10-5 (1-1) and even lost to Pittsburgh in their last game. Before that loss Pitt had lost 25 straight ACC games, the fact that Mack was able to rile his team and flip the national perspective on the cards is the most impressive part about this game.
The Cardinals started the game 7-7 and 4-4 on threes to start the game and the Cards never looked back after that. After Carolina scored the first 3 points they would never regain the lead and would go on to lose the game by 22 points. Every player got a spot to shine for the Cardinals but the best performance of the game had to be Dwayne Sutton who finished the game with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, amd 4 steals. Jordan Nwora and Steven Enoch also finished with 17 points each.
The Cardinals just dominated every faucet of the game. They shot 51% from the field, won the rebound battle, held Carolina to 34% shooting, and only let Carolina shoot a miserable 13% from the three point line.
It was a type of game that set the tone for what Louisville basketball could be in the coming future. While Mack eventually let things spiral out of control with the covid season and the aftermath of it, there was no doubt that Louisville fans believed what he was doing with the team at the time. The 3 point shooting and pack line defense worked its charm in this game and put a smile on Louisville’s faces to see Roy Williams so frustrated.
Steven Enoch’s alley oop slam from the free throw line was the pinnacle of the afternoon for the Cardinals. Carolina was starting to cut into the lead but the Cardinals answered with a powerful dunk from Enoch to bump up the lead for the cards. Louisville set a new low for Carolina that day and it is one all Cardinal fans should remember.