It wasn’t pretty, but in ACC action you don’t need them to be. NC State did just enough to pull away from Louisville in a game where both teams were looking for their first conference win. NC State shot 10-26 from beyond the arc to collect a 76-64 win Thursday evening inside PNC Arena.
The Wolfpack (11-3, 1-2 ACC) opened the game with five quick points on their first two possessions. Louisville settled in to tie the game at 5-5 with 17:20 remaining in the opening stanza. A three-point basket from NC native El Ellis gave the Cards their first lead at 8-5.
Not much happened on offense between the next media break, as Louisville held a slim 11-10 lead at the under-12 media timeout. Not known as a hot outside shooting team, the Cardinals were able to hit three of their first four shots from beyond the arc to go ahead 21-16 with 7:48 on the clock before halftime.
Casey Morsell decided to take over the cold NC State offense, as his back-to-back three-point shots gave the Wolfpack a 25-21 lead. The Cards would outscore NC State 7-6 for the rest of the half – leaving the Wolfpack ahead 31-28.
Terquavion Smith opened the second half with back-to-back NBA range three-point shots to put the Wolfpack ahead 39-33, followed by a dunk from Jack Clark to give NC State its biggest lead up to that point at 42-33. The Wolfpack run would grow to 17-0 before NC State pushed ahead 56-38 with a Clark corner three with just under 11 minutes left.
The Cards wouldn’t go away easily, as they followed the three-point onslaught with an 8-0 run to slice the NC State lead to 56-46 with 8:22 remaining in the game. NC State managed to answer every Cards basket, keeping their lead in double digits for the rest of the contest – holding off a feisty Louisville squad for their first ACC win of the season.
DJ Burns led the Wolfpack with 17 points followed by Morsell with 15. Smith chipped in 14 points five State players finished in double figures.
NC State will take a few days off before returning after Christmas for a trip to Clemson on December 30.
