Louisville Taken Down by NC State to Extend ACC Winless Streak
RALEIGH, N.C. - Heading back on the road roughly 48 hours removed from their loss at home to Lipscomb, the Louisville men's basketball program briefly resumed ACC play with a showdown against NC State, with a second half meltdown handing them a 76-64 loss Thursday night at PNC Arena.
The Cardinals fall to 2-11 to start the Kenny Payne era, and suffer their first 0-3 start to conference play since the 1997-98 season. Conversely, the Wolfpack move to 11-4 and pick up their first ACC win after an 0-2 start.
Louisville did manage to shoot 51.1 percent from the field and 4-of-8 on three-point attempts, but committed 17 turnovers to just four assists in the process. Meanwhile, NC State shot just 41.9 percent, but countered that by going 10-of-26 from long range. Combining the turnovers with NC State's 12 offensive rebounds, the Wolfpack got off 17 more shot attempts than the Cardinals.
Four of the Cardinals' finished in double figures, led by a 16-point effort from Sydney Curry. Ell Ellis amassed 15 points, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield poured in a 12 point and 12 rebound double-double, and Mike James had 10 points. All five of NC State's starters cracked double digits, with D.J. Burns having a game-best 17 points.
NC State opened up the game struggling to buy a basket, connecting on only four of their first 19 shots and just one of their first seven three-pointers. Even though Louisville had the opposite start, draining eight of their first 16 field goal attempts, they couldn't put meaningful distance between them and the Wolfpack due to turnovers and defensive rebounding issues.
With Louisville only leading by five with eight minutes left in the first half, NC State finally woke up, using a 9-0 run that was assisted by a 6-of-7 shooting stretch to take command of the game. However, the Cardinals didn't fold in the face of adversity, battling back to keep it competitive and see the Wolfpack only take a 31-28 lead into the locker room.
The competitive nature of the game didn't last long once the second half started. Louisville did use a small scoring burst once the half started to briefly tie the game, but then NC State delivered a counterpunch in the form of a 17-0 run to take compete control of the game.
The Cardinals were able to make it a 10-point game with just over eight minutes to go, but couldn't get out of their own way. Despite shooting 61.9 percent for the half, eight turnovers after halftime halted any real chance of a comeback.
Next up, Louisville has few extra days off for Christmas break, and will be back in action on New Year's Eve for the Battle of the Bluegrass at Kentucky. Tip-off against the Wildcats is set for Saturday, Dec. 31 at 1:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of El Ellis: Jaylynn Nash - USA TODAY Sports)
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