The University of Louisville men’s basketball team suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the NC State Wolfpack on Thursday night, as a 17-0 run by the Wolfpack in the second half proved to be the decisive blow in a 76-64 loss. Despite a strong start for Louisville, with an early 9-0 run and a 21-16 lead at the 8:05 mark, NC State responded with its own 9-0 run and took control of the game. Louisville fought back with an 8-0 run of its own, but was unable to overcome NC State’s lead. Sydney Curry led the way for Louisville with 16 points, while El Ellis added 15 points and five rebounds. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Despite shooting 51.1% from the field overall, Louisville committed 17 turnovers and took 17 fewer shots than NC State, who made 10 of 26 3-pointers in the game. D.J. Burns led the Wolfpack with 17 points and six boards. The Cardinals will now have a break for the holidays before finishing non-conference play with a road trip to rival Kentucky on December 31st.
As the second half got underway, it seemed that Louisville had found its footing and was ready to make a push for the win. Senior guard El Ellis tied the game at 33 with a pair of free throws just two minutes into the half. However, NC State had other plans. The Wolfpack launched a devastating 17-0 run that broke open the game and sent the Cardinals on their way to defeat. Louisville went more than seven minutes without a field goal as NC State pulled away. Casey Morsell’s 3-pointer finally ended the run, but it was too little, too late for Louisville as they found themselves down 50-33.
Despite the loss, Louisville head coach Kenny Payne saw some positives in his team’s performance. “I thought we played hard,” Payne said. “Made a lot of mistakes, but overall I thought we played OK. Still would’ve liked to come out with a better result. I thought we proved we can play with them, but we just need to do it more consistently.” Payne highlighted some of the key factors in the loss, including the Wolfpack’s 12 offensive rebounds and Louisville’s 17 turnovers, which led to NC State taking 17 more shots than the Cardinals.
Sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield echoed his coach’s sentiments, noting that communication and body language were key issues for the team. “We just weren’t communicating that well as a collective,” Huntley-Hatfield said. “Once they started hitting those 3s and we had those mistakes, we didn’t come together. We just splintered off, and that’s how they kept going on the run. We didn’t communicate well, and our body language showed it. Once a team makes a little run, we have to come together so teams can’t keep going on runs and getting 3 balls.”
Despite the tough loss, Louisville will have a chance to regroup over the holidays before finishing non-conference play with a road trip to rival Kentucky on December 31st. The game will air on CBS.
