GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Brice Johnson scored 18 of his 22 points after halftime to help No. 19 North Carolina outlast No. 14 Louisville 70-60 in Thursday’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals.
Marcus Paige added 13 points for the fifth-seeded Tar Heels (23-10), who regrouped from an ugly first half and took control in the final 7 minutes to take the third tough matchup between the teams this season.
UNC used an 8-0 run to finally push ahead for good, with Kennedy Meeks coming up with some key plays despite being limited by a recent illness. The Tar Heels then went 6-for-6 at the line in the final minute to seal it and earn a date with No. 3 Virginia in the semifinals.
Terry Rozier scored 20 to lead the fourth-seeded Cardinals (24-8), who shot just 8-for-36 (22 percent) after halftime — including a 5½ minute drought that tipped a tight contest toward UNC.
Louisville missed 15 of its last 17 shots, a remarkable turnaround considering the Cardinals shot 52 percent in the first half and appeared to have early control. And the Cardinals finished just 4-for-22 from 3-point range in its ACC tournament debut.
Just as with the previous matchups, this one was another fight — and in all three games, the winning team overcame a double-figure deficit.
Meeks had missed the UNC’s ACC tournament opener because of illness and a fever, which caused him to miss two practices. He looked like he was laboring through much of his court time, only to muscle in a shot over Mangok Mathiang and follow with a stickback to cap UNC’s 8-0 run to a 64-57 lead with just under 4 minutes left.
He followed that by blocking a baseline drive by Rozier.
___
TIP-INS
Louisville: Montrezl Harrell had 14 points and 12 rebounds. … Wayne Blackshear added 18 points and three 3-pointers. … Louisville finished with a 15-10 edge on the offensive glass, but scored just eight second-chance points.
UNC: Justin Jackson added 10 points. … UNC shot 50 percent after halftime. … Freshman Theo Pinson missed his second straight game due to soreness in his left foot. He had recently returned from a monthlong absence after breaking that foot in late January.
UP NEXT
Louisville will play in the NCAA tournament.
UNC will play top-seeded Virginia on Friday night.
___
Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.