By AARON BEARD AP Basketball Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Seth Trimble scored a career-high 30 points and hit two key free throws with 12.3 seconds left to help No. 18 North Carolina hold off No. 24 Louisville 77-74 on Monday night.
Trimble’s free throws made it a two-possession game after Louisville had chopped UNC’s 16-point second-half lead all the way down to 74-71.
Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. hit a desperation 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left to pull Louisville within 76-74. The Cardinals were able to foul Derek Dixon to extend the game with 0.8 seconds left, but Dixon made the second of his two free throws. Louisville had a final chance but Ryan Conwell couldn’t get off the tying shot in time after catching a long inbounds heave.
Henri Veesaar and Luka Bogavac each added 12 points for the Tar Heels (22-6, 10-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who again played without injured freshman star Caleb Wilson.
North Carolina shot 53.6% for the game but had a white-knuckle finish for the home fans by going just 7 of 13 from the foul line after halftime. UNC ran off a 17-2 run out of halftime to build a 56-40 lead on Trimble’s steal and dunk that he punctuated with a triumphant scream.
Brown, a high-end NBA prospect, scored 24 points while Conwell added 23 for the Cardinals (20-8, 9-6). Louisville shot 38.8% and went 14 of 39 from 3-point range. But Louisville missed its first 10 shots out of halftime and had to battle uphill the rest of the night.
Louisville led by 10 before UNC rallied to take a 39-38 lead at the break.
Up next
Louisville: The Cardinals visit Clemson on Saturday.
UNC: The Tar Heels host Virginia Tech on Saturday.