Gakdeng and No. 9 North Carolina host Louisville

North Carolina Tar Heels (24-4, 12-3 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (19-7, 12-3 ACC)

Louisville, Kentucky; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 9 North Carolina faces Louisville after Maria Gakdeng scored 21 points in North Carolina's 68-58 victory over the Syracuse Orange.

The Cardinals are 8-3 in home games. Louisville ranks sixth in the ACC with 15.4 assists per game led by Ja'Leah Williams averaging 3.7.

The Tar Heels are 12-3 in ACC play. North Carolina scores 71.8 points and has outscored opponents by 16.0 points per game.

Louisville's average of 6.2 made 3-pointers per game this season is just 0.7 more made shots on average than the 5.5 per game North Carolina allows. North Carolina has shot at a 43.2% rate from the field this season, 1.3 percentage points fewer than the 44.5% shooting opponents of Louisville have averaged.

The Cardinals and Tar Heels meet Sunday for the first time in conference play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Tajianna Roberts is scoring 13.3 points per game and averaging 3.2 rebounds for the Cardinals. Jayda Curry is averaging 2.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Lexi Donarski averages 2.3 made 3-pointers per game for the Tar Heels, scoring 9.9 points while shooting 39.6% from beyond the arc. Gakdeng is averaging 11.8 points and 8.1 rebounds over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 8-2, averaging 72.2 points, 32.3 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 8.9 steals and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 44.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.0 points per game.

Tar Heels: 9-1, averaging 68.7 points, 35.3 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 7.5 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 43.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.