Previewing NC State vs. Louisville

By Noah Fleischman

After a more than 2,000-mile trip to the West Coast to play the ACC’s newest additions last week, NC State returns home for a pair of contests inside the Lenovo Center. Up first, on Wednesday night, is a red-hot Louisville team, which is currently third in the ACC standings. 

Here are three thoughts, a bold prediction and more to preview the Cardinals and Wolfpack. 

Three thoughts going into the game

– NC State (9-14, 2-10 ACC) needs to stop the bleeding. This has been a common theme over the last eight games, all losses. It’s now or never for the Wolfpack. The bottom three teams in the league standings do not qualify for the ACC Tournament, and NC State is currently two games out of the field.

There’s enough time for it to make up ground on the likes of Syracuse and Virginia, but wins are needed. The Wolfpack has to upset some team along the way. A win over Louisville, a team with just two league losses and wins in 14 of its last 16 games, would be immense for NC State.

It could spark a much-needed winning streak. Boston College (10-13, 2-10 ACC) will visit the Lenovo Center on Saturday, before the Pack visits a skidding North Carolina squad next Wednesday night in Chapel Hill.

–  It’s time to start freshman guard Trey Parker. His 19-point, 5-assist performance in the one-point loss at Stanford on Saturday proved he is what the Wolfpack needs — a point guard that can both score and set up his teammates.

Graduate guard Michael O’Connell provides stability as a passer, but hasn’t found the same scoring stroke he had last postseason with six double-digit performances — five of which were in the ACC tournament alone. And his defense has seemed to be passed by Parker, a lighting-quick guard with a knack for poking the ball away to run in transition.

As each game goes on, Parker continues to look more and more comfortable on the floor. He has turned in back-to-back contests without a turnover after he had three in each of the previous two games. He has scored 49 points in the last four games with a 52.8 percent mark from the field (52.9 percent from three-point distance). He had just 14 points in a 12-game stretch from Dec. 4 to Jan. 25, but the guard has finally hit his stride. Parker’s growth has been impressive to watch, and at this point, he has earned the right to play 29-32 minutes a night running the Wolfpack’s offense.

This season hasn’t been what anyone wanted, but allowing Parker to start the final eight games would help his development going into next season, where he’d be leaned upon to be a main ball handler.

– Senior guard Marcus Hill, the former Bowling Green and junior college standout, is just five points away from 1,000 for his career. He enters the night as the Wolfpack’s leading scorer at 12.9 points a game. It doesn’t matter who’s around him, Hill will find a way to get to the rim. He has been one of the bright spots on a team that has struggled.

Hill is expected to hit the mark against the Cardinals — he has scored at least 5 points in all but two games this season. He has logged double-figure point outputs in 14 of his last 16 appearances with the Wolfpack.

Bold prediction

– Parker is on a hot streak. I’ll say it continues against Louisville with at least 13 points and 3 assists. 

Last game’s bold prediction: O’Connell is due for a breakout performance. I’ll say he scores at least 10 points with four or more assists in his return to Stanford. O’Connell finished without a point or assist with 4 rebounds in 27 minutes played in a 74-73 loss to the Cardinal.

Broadcast details

TV: ESPN2
Tipoff: 7 p.m ET.
Broadcasters: Mike Monaco (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst)

Radio: WRAL-FM
Air time: 6 p.m. ET
Broadcasters: Matt Chazanow (play-by-play) and Tony Haynes (analyst)

NC State game notes

– The Wolfpack boasts a pair of Louisville transfers on its current roster. Senior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield scored 574 career points in his two seasons with the Cardinals, while redshirt junior guard Mike James posted 724 points in two playing years at Louisville. Huntley-Hatfield (shoulder) has missed the last two games, but could be ready to play against his former team. James (knee), meanwhile, hasn’t played in a game this season.

– NC State has played well against the ACC’s top offenses. It limited SMU, which averaged 82.3 points, to just 63 on Jan. 25, while UNC was held to 63 after it entered the night averaging 80.6. Louisville has the league’s fourth-best unit and has scored 79.2 points a game with at least 70 in each of its last 15 games. NC State has only allowed visiting teams to eclipse 70 three times inside the Lenovo Center this season.

– Junior forward Ismaël Diouf had his most-utilized week in his Wolfpack tenure during the team’s trip to California. He logged a total of 16 points in the losses at Cal and Stanford, while he shot 58.3 percent from the field with eight rebounds. He was able to play at least 22 minutes in each game, setting a new season high with 24:13 at Cal. 

Louisville outlook

– This will be the 29th all-time meeting between the two programs. Each team has logged 14 wins in the series, including the Wolfpack’s 94-85 comeback win over the Cardinal in the opening round of last year’s ACC Tournament, which kicked off NC State’s nine-game sprint to the 2024 Final Four.

– Louisville is coming off an 88-78 win over Miami on Saturday. The Cardinals used a 27-point outburst from Terrence Edwards Jr. to get past the struggling Hurricanes.  

– The Cardinals boast a prolific, yet balanced scoring attack. Chucky Hepburn leads the way with 15 points a game, while Edwards has 14.6, Reyne Smith posts 14.2, and J’Vonne Hadley logs 12.3.