LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It took Louisville coach Rick Pitino 22 games into the season to find out a very important fact about his team.

"I just asked them tonight if we could get up off the mat," he said.

The 19th-ranked Cardinals supplied the answer Pitino desired Monday night, getting a game-high 24 points from senior forward Damion Lee and clamping down defensively on No. 2 North Carolina to notch a 71-65 Atlantic Coast Conference win.

Lee, who was held to six points as Louisville absorbed a 63-47 thumping at Virginia's hands Saturday, set an instant tone just over a minute into the game when he drove the lane and threw down an emphatic dunk to initiate scoring.

Canning 8-of-12 field goals and 4-of-7 3-pointers, Lee gave the Cardinals' impotent offense of 48 hours earlier a more recognizable look and result.

"The most important thing was how we responded," Lee said.

While Louisville has racked up wins at a normal clip, it has remained somewhat of a mystery. It returned hardly anyone with experience in Pitino's system, adding Lee and guard Trey Lewis as graduate seniors from Drexel and Cleveland State, respectively, to give it a pair of veterans.

In Pitino's mind, how the Cardinals carried themselves after Virginia handed them the worst loss in the six-year existence of KFC Yum! Center was paramount.

"I know they were all disappointed," Pitino said. "But I told them you don't get judged by falling down, because you're going to fall down a lot in life. I told them they would get judged collectively and individually by how we defended and rebounded tonight."

Louisville (18-4, 7-2) used mostly zone, sprinkling in occasional possessions of man-to-man, to hold the Tar Heels (19-3, 8-1) to 34.5 percent field-goal shooting. It also won the rebounding battle 41-39, generating a 17-7 advantage in second-chance points.

And its long-armed athletes gummed up North Carolina's normally excellent ball movement. The Tar Heels managed only two assists in the first half and no fast-break points, finishing the game with 11 and six, respectively.

"We're an excellent passing team and we have just two assists at halftime," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

The Cardinals didn't fare much better offensively in the opening 20 minutes, hitting just 9-of-28 field goals and scraping out a 28-27 halftime lead after trailing by as many as six points. But they found a rhythm after halftime, canning 53.1 percent of their shots and getting some scoring help for Lee.

Center Chinanu Onuaku overcame early foul trouble to finish with 12 points and eight rebounds, while backup guard Donovan Mitchell kicked in 10 points. Point guard Quentin Snyder made just 2-of-11 shots, but Pitino praised him as a key to the game, noting his 7-1 assist-turnover ratio.

Lee's 3-pointer from the left wing with 9:33 left gave Louisville a 53-48 lead, and it nursed it down the stretch. The Tar Heels clawed within 67-65 when guard Joel Berry converted two free throws with 35.6 seconds left, but Lewis and Lee calmly drained one-and-ones in the final 26 seconds to seal the outcome.

Forward Justin Jackson paced North Carolina with 16 points, while forward Brice Johnson chipped in a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double. But senior guard Marcus Paige's slump continued as he made only 3-of-13 shots and scored nine.

In his last six games, Paige has sank just 12-of-57 field goal attempts, including a brutal 5-of-36 from 3-point range.

"Am I supposed to put him out, send him to Siberia? He's one of the greatest kids I've ever coached," said Williams in defense of Paige. "I don't have any lotion that I can just rub on people. You know how in golf if you have trouble putting, you can use a long putter? We don't have long putters in basketball."

While Williams talked golf, the Cardinals basked in the glow of recording a birdie at just the right time.

"We played defense," Onuaku said. "We stayed focused."

NOTES: Louisville entered the game leading Division I in scoring differential at 19.1 ppg. ... North Carolina is seeking the 57th 20-win season in school history. ... Cardinals C Chinanu Onuaku notched double-doubles in six straight games before coming up shy last week against Virginia Tech and Virginia.