DULUTH, Ga. (WDRB) — Imari Berry came off the bench Saturday afternoon the way a spark comes off a match.
Quick. Bright. And suddenly everything was burning.
Berry, the ACC's sixth player of the year, poured in 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and generally behaved like the best player in the building as the Cardinals clipped No. 16 North Carolina 65-57 and marched into Sunday's ACC championship game against Duke.
Berry has long been more than just a supporting player. But at times Saturday, she was the whole production.
The sophomore from Clarksville, Tennessee, shot 9-for-14, knocked down four three-pointers and gave Louisville exactly what tournament basketball demands: a player willing to grab a game by the collar and shake it until it behaves. The Cardinals improved to 27-6 and, barring some unforeseen act of the selection committee, likely secured at least a No. 3 seed and home-court advantage for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
Louisville has now reached the ACC title game for the fifth time.
North Carolina arrived in Duluth playing the sort of basketball that makes coaches sleep poorly, winners of 15 of its last 16, the top three-point shooting machine in the ACC. On Saturday, Louisville held the Tar Heels to just six threes, and 1-for-6 in the second half.
Mackenly Randolph drives for a score in the first half of Louisville's ACC Tournament semifinal game against North Carolina.
Jeff Walz knew exactly what was walking through the door.
"Carolina's a fantastic team," the Louisville coach said afterward. "I'll be shocked if they're not hosting the first two rounds."
For a while, they played like it.
Louisville jumped ahead early behind Berry's shooting, then spent the second quarter wandering through the familiar fog that Walz says has visited his team too often lately. The Tar Heels crept back, the lead changed hands, and for a moment the game had the nervous feel of a coin balanced on its edge.
Then Berry flipped it.
First came the hustle play, a 10-second midcourt violation she forced with the enthusiasm of a kid chasing an ice-cream truck.
Then came the moment that didn't count.
At the end of the third quarter Berry launched a three-quarter-court shot that splashed through the net just after the horn. The officials waved it off. The Louisville bench reacted like someone had just discovered fire.
Berry simply shrugged.
"I practice that shot every day after shootaround," she said. "The chance came and I knocked it down. It didn't count, but it still gave us some momentum going into the fourth quarter."
Momentum is a funny thing in March. Sometimes it comes from a play. Sometimes it comes from a feeling. Sometimes it comes from a shot that technically never happened.
Whatever the source, Louisville rode it.
Laura Ziegler buried a three to end the third quarter and another to begin the fourth, pushing the Cardinals ahead again. Louisville eventually stretched the margin to 10 with just over two minutes left, which is normally the point where a basketball team breathes.
Louisville, being Louisville this season, briefly hyperventilated instead.
Two turnovers and a missed free throw trimmed the cushion. But the Cardinals never lost control.
Elif Istanbulluoglu finished with 11 points and six rebounds and supplied one of the afternoon's quieter heroic acts, rolling her ankle midway through the fourth quarter, disappearing briefly to have it taped, and returning just in time to knock down two free throws that steadied the finish.
Walz calls her his glue.
"Elif is a warrior," he said, praising her transformation from a four-points-per-game role player last season to one of Louisville's indispensable pieces this year.
Walz said Berry could follow another sixth player of the year from Louisville win ascending to league player of the year honors -- Dana Evans.
"I truly believe she can be player of the year in this league," he said. "She'll score 13 points in four minutes, and then I'm wondering what happened to the other 36."
Saturday afternoon answered that question.
For 31 minutes, Berry was everywhere. Shooting, rebounding, sprinting after loose balls and generally behaving like someone who had decided the ACC Tournament might be a nice place to stage a personal introduction.
And where -- for not the first time -- their sixth player looked like the first.
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