Not many people thought N.C. State would have a chance to win coming into Louisville today. They were on the outside looking in for the NCAA tournament. A win at Louisville would have significantly boosted their chances of making the tournament and earn a higher seed in the ACC tournament. The game was much better than anticipated and the winner was surprising.
This game was all Wolfpack. Wayne Blackshear dominated on the offensive side of the ball in the first half scoring 14 points. But N.C State held the rest of Louisville to 17 points shutting down Montrezl Harrell. Terry Rozier was in foul trouble most of the half so he didn’t play as much as usual. Louisville led going into the break 31-30 looking to break away in the second.
“Against their pressure, I thought Cat was sensational,” Gottfried said.
Cat Barber was phenomenal against the full court pressure. He had 21 points and only 2 turnovers having one of his best games of the season against a great defender in Chris Jones. Harrell made a hook shot with 14 minutes remaining to give Louisville the 2 point lead before Kyle Washington hit the same shot and Lacey then made a 3 to put N.C State up 46-43. There was no looking back after this point.
“You hear around the country, Harrell is a beast on the glass, put back dunks, all these things,” Lacey said. “We just stepped up and took the challenge.”
The Wolfpack held Louisville to 33% shooting and dominated around the basket, outscoring Louisville 32-16 in the paint. N.C State hasn’t been that good in the paint since the Duke game and they needed every one of those points tonight. After Terry Rozier fouled out with 4 minutes remaining there looked to be no more hope for UofL. N.C. State knocked off the 9th ranked Cardinals 74-65.
Game Notes: Cat Barber and Trevor Lacey combined for 35 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds. Terry Rozier leads the ACC in scoring but only had 7 points tonight. Chris Jones led Louisville in scoring with 20 points. Anya and Martin combined for 20 rebounds off the bench for the Wolfpack. NCST committed only 8 turnovers but outrebounded Louisville by 10.
“We got dominated at all five positions tonight,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.
Next Games:
Louisville at Syracuse 2/18/15
N.C. State - Virginia Tech 2/21/15