You win some, you lose some. My only hope headed into this game was that the No. 15 Cardinals would keep it respectable. They’re tough, but NC State is incredibly talented with 6 players averaging 9.7-15 points per game. Tonight, they were the better team and the Cards fell to 19-4, and 8-2 in the ACC. 

Aside from three early whistles on Louisville in the first half, there was a myriad of other issues and it felt like they were building on one another. Shots were falling in the first quarter, and it appeared the Cards may have been able to keep it close as they were only down 6 points through the first ten minutes. Once the second quarter began, the defensive scheme remained on the bench and the offense was literally non-existent. I’m sure someone out there (Kelly Dickey) could tell me the last time Louisville was held to 8 points in one quarter, but I cannot seem to find it in my brain now. The lack of defense on the perimeter allowed NC State to go 6-14 from the three-point line and the offense saw themselves sitting at 12-36 from the field through the first half. Nothing was going well for this Louisville team, who has looked decent through most of this year.

Louisville showed more life in the second half and were able to cut the NC State lead down to 6 in the fourth quarter. The problem of perimeter shooting carried over into the second half. Jayda Curry and Sydney Taylor were the only Cardinals to make a three-pointer throughout the entirety of the game. As a team, Louisville went 4-14 from the three and 25-66 from the field. After holding NC State to 12 points in the third quarter, the defense was able to hold the Wolfpack to 16 points in the fourth for a 77-67 loss on the road.

The Cardinals come home Thursday to host No. 14 Notre Dame at the KFC Yum! Center at 6pm. You can find that game on ESPN as well as on the 93.9 The Ville airwaves. Dave Scull and I will have your post game show following the matchup. 

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Chrissy Banta

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