Preview: Louisville Hosts NC State on Short Turnaround

The Cardinals come back to the KFC Yum! Center to face the Wolfpack.

Feb 7, 2026; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Adrian Wooley (14) goes to the basket against Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Mekhi Mason (8) during the second half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

NC State Wolfpack (18-6, 9-2 ACC) at No. 24 Louisville Cardinals (17-6, 7-4 ACC)

- Tipoff: Monday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ESPN
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Louisville -5.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville Leads 15-14
- Last Meeting: Louisville won 91-66 on Feb. 12, 2025 (Raleigh, N.C.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

• G Mikel Brown Jr. (6-5, 190, Fr.)
• G Isaac McKneely (6-4, 195, Sr.)
• G Ryan Conwell (6-4, 215, Sr.)
• F J'Vonne Hadley (6-7, 210, 6th)
• F/C Sananda Fru (6-11, 245, Jr.)

NC State

• G Quadir Copeland (6-6, 220, Sr.)
• G Tre Holloman (6-2, 195, Sr.)
• G Paul McNeil Jr. (6-5, 190, So.)
• F Darrion Williams (6-6, 225, Sr.)
• F Ven-Allen Lubin (6-9, 250, Sr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Wolfpack, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. NC State

Game Notes

Louisville

• Louisville has won five of its last six games, most recently earning a conference road win at Wake Forest Saturday.
• Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey is 174-67 (.722) all-time in conference play as a head coach.
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. has logged five games of 20+ points, tying the most 20-point games by a Louisville freshman in a single season. LaBradford Smith had five in 1987-88.
• As of Feb. 8, there are 32 players in DI shooting 41% or above from 3-point range in their career. No one in that group has made or attempted more 3-pointers than senior guard Isaac McKneely, who has made 300 on 721 attempts. He is 68 makes and 155 attempts ahead of the next closest player, Jacari White of Virginia.
• Louisville is one of four DI teams with at least five victories of 40 points or more this season, joining Michigan (6), High Point (6) and Illinois (5).
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. returned to the floor on Jan. 24 against Virginia Tech after missing eight games due to injury. He was named the 2025 USA Basketball Men's Athlete of the Year on Jan. 6.
• Louisville is 44-0 under Kelsey when leading with five minutes to play.
• Louisville has had five games of at least 24 assists, the first time since 2010-11 that the program has had multiple games of 24+ assists; the Cardinals had five games of at 24+ assists that season. Louisville is one of 11 teams in 2025-26 as of Feb. 8 to have five games or more of at least 24 assists. Louisville has had nine games of 20+ assists, one of 22 teams in the nation to do so.
• Louisville is 14th in the country in scoring margin at +15.1 points per game. The program is also third in 3-point attempts per game (33.4), fifth in three pointers per game (11.5) and 17th in defensive rebounds per game (28.09).
• Against Memphis on Dec. 13, Louisville had four different players with at least three 3-pointers apiece for the first time since Nov. 22, 2010 when the Cards played Chattanooga. It was the second time in program history that six different players made multiple 3-pointers, the first time being at WKU on Dec. 22, 2010.
• Senior guard Ryan Conwell is the only DI men's basketball player since at least 2010-11 to log at least 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 24 minutes or less, according to Sports Reference. He notched that stat line against NJIT on Nov. 26.
• Kelsey reached his 300th career win on Jan. 10 with a victory over Boston College.
• Both Ryan Conwell and Mikel Brown Jr. represent Louisville on the preseason Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List.  
• Louisville netted 20 3-pointers against NJIT on Nov. 26, the second-most made 3's in a single game in program history. It was just the second time ever the Cardinals have made at least 20 3's in a game.
• Louisville's positive 38 rebounding margin against NJIT on Nov. 26 was the largest rebounding margin in program history.
• Louisville led 59-15 at halftime against South Carolina State on Nov. 3. The 44-point halftime lead was the largest in program history.
• Freshman guard Mikel Brown Jr. was named ACC Co-Player and Co-Rookie of the Week on Nov. 17 after averaging 24.0 ppg, 6.0 apg and shooting 48.1% from the floor in Louisville’s two Week 2 victories - a 96-88 win over Kentucky and 106-81 win over Ohio.
• Freshman Mikel Brown Jr. scored 29 points against Kentucky on Nov. 11, 2025, the fourth most points in a game by a Louisville freshman ever.
• UofL has three Cardinals on the roster that have scored over 1,000 DI points: Ryan Conwell (1,746), Isaac McKneely (1,346) and J’Vonne Hadley (1,244).
• There are 14 players who returned to DI this season that started the season with at least 175 made 3-pointers with a career 3-point field goal percentage of 38% or more; Ryan Conwell and Isaac McKneely are two of those 14 players.

NC State

• NC State moved its winning streak to six games with an 82-73 win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Pack’s six-game winning streak is the longest current win streak in the ACC and the longest win streak in ACC regular seasons for NC State since the 1973-74 team that went 12-0 in the conference.
• The win over the Hokies pushed the Pack’s ACC record to 9-2 on the season. It’s the best ACC record for NC State through 11 games since the 2003-04 season. NC State has won its first six ACC road games this season. It’s the first time the Pack started its ACC schedule by winning its first six ACC road games since the 1973–74 season, when NC State went undefeated in conference play and went on to capture the National Championship with a 30–1 record.
• Quadir Copeland stuffed the stat sheet in the win over Virginia Tech, tying for team-high honors with 21 points, while also passing out 10 assists and tying his career-high with five steals. The senior has led the Pack in scoring in eight of the last 18 games, in assists in 17 of the last 18 games (including 16 consecutive games) and in steals in 10 of the last 18 games.
• It was a stellar week for Copeland as he opened the week with a career-high 16 assists with zero turnovers and also had a season-high 10 rebounds in the Pack’s 84-83 win at SMU. Copeland’s 16 assists tie for the fourth-most in a single game in program history. They are most by an NC State player since Dennis Smith, Jr., had 16 in a win over Rider on Dec. 28, 2016. Copeland is the first Division I player to log 16 assists and zero turnovers since Belmont’s Grayson Murphy in 2019 and the first ACC player to have 16 assists and zero turnovers since 1997. Copeland set the program record for most assists without a turnover. (previous 15 ast/0 turnovers by Ishua Benjamin on 12/18/97).
• NC State has made double-digit three-pointers in 12 of 24 games this season. The Pack has had two games with 19 made three-pointers, a game with 17 made threes and three games with 16. The 1986-87 season was when the three-point line was introduced to college basketball. From the 1986-87 season through the 2024-25 season, NC State made 16 or more three-pointers in a game six times in 39 seasons. The current NC State team has made 16 or more three-pointers in six of 24 games this season. The Pack currently ranks second in the ACC and 11th in the NCAA with an average of 11.0 three-pointers made per game. NC State leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the NCAA in three point percentage, making 40.2 percent of its attempts from long range this season. 
• Through games of Saturday, Feb. 7, NC State has an 11-5 Q1 and Q2 combined record. Only Duke (13) has more Q1/Q2 wins than the Pack. NC State is one of 13 teams in NCAA DI to have 11 or more Q1 or Q2 wins currently. Of those 13 teams, nine are ranked in the top-11 of the most recent AP poll and two more are ranked 15th and 17th. Only NC State and Alabama have 11 or more Q1/Q2 wins and are unranked.
• The Pack’s offense has traveled well this season, as NC State has actually shot better away from Raleigh than at home. In 11 road or neutral-site games, the Pack is shooting 48.4 percent, including 44.1 percent from three-point range, and averaging 84.9 points per game. NC State averages to make more threes per game away from Raleigh (11.6 per game in 11 games) than in home games (10.4 per game in 13 games).
• The keys in the Pack’s 6-0 ACC road record is three-pointers and turnovers. NC State has made an average of 13.2 three-pointers per game and shooting 48.2 percent from long range in its six ACC road wins. The Pack has had single digit turnovers in every single game and is averaging just 7.2 turnovers per game in ACC road contests. NC State has a 2.35 assist-to-turnover ratio (101-to-43) in road contests and the Pack has a +32 turnover margin on the road.
• Paul McNeil, Jr., (24-of-47) and Darrion Williams (21-of-45) have combined to make 45 three-pointers and shooting 48.9% from long range in six ACC road games this season.
• Darrion Williams had his streak of three straight 20+-point performances snapped in the win over Virginia Tech on Saturday. Williams finished with just four points on 1-of-9 shooting in the win, but did have a gamebest +16 point differential when he was in the game. The Sacramento, Calif, native has made 55 threepointers this season which is the most in a single season in his collegiate career (previous most was 48 in 34 games last season at Texas Tech).
• Quadir Copeland has had at least nine assists in five consecutive games and overall has 54 assists (10.8 per game) and a 4.5 assist-to-turnover ratio in his last five outings. Copeland has passed out 169 assists this season, the most ever in a single season in his collegiate career and already is the most assists by an NC State player in the last five seasons. In addition to facilitating for his teammates, Copeland is averaging a career-best 14.0 points per game this season while shooting a career-best 52.9 percent from the field.
• Paul McNeil, Jr., made four three-pointers in the win over Virginia Tech and has now made multiple threepointers in 12 of the last 13 games. McNeil, Jr., has made 53 three-pointers in his last 13 games (4.1 per game) and is shooting 48.6% from long range in those contests. For the season, McNeil is averaging 3.2 threepointers per game to rank second in the ACC and 23rd in the NCAA while his three-point percentage of 43.5 percent leads the ACC and ranks 14th in the NCAA.
• Ven-Allen Lubin had his typical consistent performance in the win over Virginia Tech, scoring 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while pulling down seven rebounds. Lubin has now shot over 50 percent in every game except for one this season. The Orlando, Fla., native leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 67.9 percent. In his fourth season of college basketball, Lubin is averaging a career-best 13.3 points per game and his rebounding average of 7.0 per game is also the best of his career.
• NC State had single digit turnovers in seven of the last nine games. NC State ranks second in the ACC in turnovers (and ranks 22nd in the NCAA), averaging just 9.6 per game. NC State only has 74 turnovers (8.2 per game) in the Pack’s last nine outings.
• NC State and Virginia Tech each scored 19 points off opponent turnovers in Saturday’s game. It marked just the second time in 11 ACC games that the Pack didn’t score more points than its opponent in points off turnovers. In 11 ACC games this season, the Pack has outscored its opponents by 99 points in points off turnovers. NC State has now had more points off turnovers than its opponents in 14 of the last 17 games. In 24 games overall this season, NC State has outscored its opponents by 180 points in points off turnovers.
• In its last nine games, NC State passed out 154 assists and had just 74 turnovers (2.08 assist-to-turnover ratio). NC State is second in the ACC and ranks 13th in the NCAA with a 1.74 assist-to-turnover ratio this season. The 1.74 assist-to-turnover ratio would be a program record. The previous single-season best in program history is currently 1.61 by the 1987-88 team.
• The Pack has a +47 turnover margin in its 11 ACC games this season and leads the ACC and ranks 13th in the NCAA with a +4.2 turnover margin. NC State has had the same or fewer turnovers than its opponent in 22 of 24 games this season. VCU and Ole Miss are the only two opponents to have fewer turnovers than the Pack when they played.
• Win the Boards, win the game? The Pack is 12-0 when it outrebounds its opponent this season, but just 6-6 when it is outrebounded.
• The win at Florida State last month marked the fourth time this season NC State has gone over the century mark. It’s the most 100 point games in a single season for NC State since the 1995-96 team had four. For the season, NC State averages 85.7 points per game which is third in the ACC and 24th in the NCAA. The Pack is currently on pace to average its most points since Fire & Ice (Chris Corchiani and Rodney Monroe) led the Pack to an average of 89.3 points per game in the 1990-91 season.

(Photo of Adrian Wooley: Jim Dedmon - Imagn Images)

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