Louisville's Furious Comeback Attempt Falls Short Against NC State
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fresh off of securing their first road win in two years with their stunning upset at Miami, the Louisville men's basketball program was nearly able to build on that momentum against NC State, but their last-ditch comeback attempt fell just short to result in a 89-83 defeat Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.
Trailing by 14 with 2:09 to go, the Cardinals (6-10, 1-4 ACC) unleashed a furious scoring flurry, scoring 11 points in just 1:17 to cut the Wolfpack (12-4, 4-1 ACC) advantage to just three with just 52 seconds to go.
However, on the next possession, NC State's D.J. Horne would drive to the basket for a layup, also drawing a foul and hitting the ensuing and-one free throw. Louisville's Skyy Clark responded with a three with 22 seconds left, but Horne would then hit two more free throws on the other end.
The Cardinals' final shot attempt, a three from Ty-Laur Johnson, fell short with five seconds to go, then the Wolfpack added one more free throw on the other end from Mohamed Diarra.
Offensively, Louisville put together a good performance. They connected on 47.5 percent of their field goal attempts, shot 8-for-15 on three-pointers, were 19-of-25 at the free throw line, and committed just 10 turnovers but assisted on only 11 of their 28 made shots.
However, despite forcing 15 turnovers, the Cardinals' efforts on the defensive end left much to be desired. NC State shot 54.2 percent from the field and 10-of-20 from beyond the arc. The Wolfpack also went 15-of-17 from the charity stripe, won the rebounding battle 33-30, and logged 17 assists on 32 field goals.
Five Cardinals finished in double figures scoring, led by another great outing from Mike James, who scored a team-high 20 points. Curtis Willams had 15 points, Ty-Laur Johnson collected 14 points and five assists, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield notched a 13 points/10 rebound double-double and Clark had 10 points.
Starting guard Tre White also made his return to the court after missing the last three games due to a groin injury. He came off the bench for seven points.
Like they have in so many of their games this season, Louisville got off to another slow start against NC State. In fact, the Wolfpack scored the first 12 points of the game after hitting four of their first five field goal attempts, while the Cardinals didn't score until 4:19 into the game after missing their first four shots.
Louisville's offensive efforts took a slight step forward after the poor start, but their defensive struggles persisted all throughout the half. While they forced nine Wolfpack turnovers in the first half, the Cardinals still allowed them to shoot 48.4 percent during the period. Meanwhile, they committed eight turnovers themselves while shooting 40.7 percent in the half.
However, they did show some fight towards the end of the half. Louisville fired strung together a 6-0 run with five minutes left to pull within six of NC State, then after the Wolfpack countered with 13-5 stretch to go up 14, the Cardinals fired off a 5-0 run in the final minute to head into the locker room down just 44-35.
Louisville's end-of-half momentum carried into the start of the second half. While NC State scored the first basket after halftime, the Cardinals followed that up with a 9-0 run to get within two, were able to tie the game at the 12:33 mark, and took a one-point lead at the 9:54 mark.
But after taking that brief lead, the game quickly unraveled. NC State made 10 of their next 12 shot attempts, while Louisville hot just two of their next nine, leading to the 14-point hole in the final two-plus minutes of the game
Next up, Louisville will head back on the road to take on North Carolina. Tip-off against the Tar Heels is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 9:00 p.m. EST.
(Photo of Mike James: Jamie Rhodes - USA TODAY Sports)
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