Justin Jackson’s 21 points led four North Carolina double-figure scorers as the Tar Heels pulled away from Louisville in the second half to remain in first place in the ACC with a 74-63 victory in Chapel Hill.

Jackson hit four three-pointers including a long one at the end of the shot clock with 4:39 left that put a dagger in the No. 7 Cardinals. “Jackson’s big threes again were huge for us,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

Louisville was going for first place in the ACC but fell two games behind the Tar Heels with Carolina now holding the tie breaker. “The crowd was really into it,” Coach Williams said. “It’s exciting to play that kind of a basketball game.”

Pretty much every game from now on will be that kind of a game as the Heels travel to Pittsburgh Saturday, to Virginia Monday and close the regular season at home against Duke March 4. Of course then they’ll be in the ACC tourney and the NCAA tourney.

“We have a two-game lead right now but we still have some to play,” Coach Williams said. “It feels good being on top but there’s still a lot of work to do.”

Jackson said the team really isn’t paying any attention to the ACC regular season title right now. “We have to play these three games as hard as we can,” he said. “We’re the only team that can control their own destiny.”

Retaining first place seemed in doubt early as Louisville got out to a 10-4 lead and only trailed the Tar Heels by three, 33-30, at the half.

Carolina, which had lead by as many as just six in the first half after a Joel Berry three, got the margin to seven early in the second half when Jackson stepped behind a Kennedy Meeks screen for a three, making it 40-33.

But Louisville went on a 7-0 run to tie it at 40. Carolina then went on a 13-3 run midway through the second half to race out to a double-digit lead at 53-43. A three that rolling around the rim before falling in for Theo Pinson was the highlight during the run.

The lead mounted to as many as 17 points after a pair of Meeks free throws made it 66-49 with 3:48 to play before the Heels settled for the 11-point victory.

In addition to Jackson’s 21 points, Berry added 15, Meeks contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds and Pinson chipped in 13.

The Tar Heels move to 24-5 and 12-3 in the ACC while Louisville falls to 22-6 and 10-5 in the conference.

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