NC State drops Louisville for first ACC win
Posted December 22, 2022 9:03 p.m. EST
Updated December 23, 2022 9:47 a.m. EST
A win is a win is a win.
There is no extra credit given for style points or artistry.
NC State’s 76-64 home win over Louisville on Thursday night didn’t include much of either, certainly not in the first 20 minutes.
Then with the score tied at 33 at 17:40 in the second half, sophomore guard Terquavion Smith hit his first 3-pointer for the Wolfpack.
Smith hit another on the next trip down the floor and one more during a 17-0 run to break the game open.
For NC State (11-3, 1-2 ACC) it was a welcomed trip to the win column and rare one at PNC Arena. The Wolfpack had lost 10 of the previous 11 home ACC games, including a dispiriting loss to Pitt on Dec. 2.
The win won’t make NC State’s season but avoiding the loss was paramount. Louisville has hit hard times under first-year coach Kenny Payne.
The Cards lost their first nine games of the season and are now 2-11 with an 0-3 ACC mark.
Payne was known as a top-notch recruiter during his time at Kentucky. Unfortunately for Payne, the two best players on the Louisville bench are Nolan Smith and Danny Manning. And the assistant coaches are out of eligibility and long past their prime.
But the Cards didn’t make it easy early on the Wolfpack, who have won three straight games since an 80-73 loss at Miami on Dec. 10.
The two teams traded turnovers and bad shots in the first half like it was a contest to see who could be worse.
Louisville led 21-16 after a layup by big man Sydney Curry at 8:07 in the first half. The rest of the half was a slog with forward D.J. Burns being the only source of consistent offense for the Wolfpack.
Burns made 4 of 5 shots in the first half, the rest of the team was 8 of 28.
State did manage to wrest the lead away from Louisville by the half and take a 31-28 advantage into the locker room.
Burns led the Wolfpack with 17 points and finished 8 of 10 from the floor. Casey Morsell made five 3s to notch 15 points and added six rebounds. Smith finished with 14 points.
NC State gets a week off before going to Clemson next Friday to kick off a difficult four-game stretch against the top of the conference.
