No. 8 North Carolina tops No. 7 Louisville, stretches ACC lead

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Justin Jackson scored 21 points and No. 8 North Carolina pulled away after halftime to beat No. 7 Louisville 74-63 on Wednesday night in a matchup of Atlantic Coast Conference leaders.

Kennedy Meeks added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels (24-5, 12-3), who strengthened their hold on first place in the league. UNC entered the night leading both Louisville and No. 10 Duke by a game, but stretched the lead by beating the Cardinals after the Blue Devils' lost at Syracuse earlier in the evening.

The Tar Heels took over with a 13-3 second-half run to break a 40-all tie and led by 17 points late.

Donovan Mitchell scored 21 points for the Cardinals (22-6, 10-5), who didn't shoot well after halftime and struggled to make much of anything outside the paint.

Louisville made just 5 of 20 3-point attempts and 4 of 13 free throws.

The Tar Heels struggled to get into a rhythm for much of the first half against the Cardinals' physical defense. But they did a much better job after halftime of getting the ball in the paint, while their outside shooting was solid all night behind Jackson - who finished 7 for 16 from the field and made 4 of 9 3-point attempts.

Joel Berry II added 15 points for the Tar Heels, who had just 12 turnovers.

BIG PICTURE

Louisville: The Cardinals' defense was good enough to fluster the Tar Heels, but their offense abandoned them. The outside shooting was particularly damaging, though the missed free throws -- they started 0 for 6 -- loomed large as the Tar Heels made their run.

UNC: The Tar Heels followed a weekend blowout of No. 18 Virginia with another home win against a ranked league team, continuing their push to finish atop the league's regular-season standings for a second straight season -- and maybe a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

UP NEXT

Louisville: The Cardinals host Syracuse on Sunday.

UNC: The Tar Heels visit Pittsburgh on Saturday.