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NC State travels to Louisville to try and gain back to back road wins aginst ranked opponents. Game time is Sunday at 1 o’clock with coverage on the ACC Network. What do you need to know about Louisville before tipoff?

Louisville’s defense is relentless at applying pressure.

Rick Pitino likes to force teams into turnovers by having his team press full court from start to finish. They use this tactic to speed their opponents up, forcing them to turn the ball over. Louisville is plus 3.3 in turnover margin thus far. Another characteristic of the Cards defense is rim protection. Louisville averages 6.2 BPG which ranks 6th in the NCAA. The Cards ability to erase and alter shots allows them to be aggressive on the perimeter. 62.2 PPG is all opponents are averaging when playing aginst Louisville.

The Cards are 4-1 in their last five games.

Despite injuries to Quentin Snider and most recently Tony Hicks Louisville has held things together. Their lone loss was a five-point defeat at FSU. Rick Pitino has used his team’s depth and do it all guard Donovan Mitchell to keep them on track. Last game Mitchell had a big game scoring 29 points on 9-13 shooting. He also knocked down 6-8 three-pointers.

Rebounding is a strength for the Cards.

Rick Pitino’s team excel at effort statistics. This season they are averaging 41.8 RPG good enough to be ranked 5th in the NCAA. Team’s struggle to keep pace with the Cards on the glass as Louisville sports a plus 7.3 rebounding margin on the season. The Cards find extra possessions because they attack the offensive glass averaging 14 offensive rebounds per game. Opposing teams are forced to execute and shoot high percentages to beat the Cards as they cut off second chance points. In two of their three ACC losses, they have lost the rebounding battle.

Louisville is having a solid season as they are 17-4, 5-3 in ACC play. Rick Pitino’s teams play hard and excel at outworking teams. They fight hard defensively and are as tough as any team on the glass. Adversity has struck this team as they have had to play without leader Quentin Snider; however, each player has stepped up to keep winning. Offensively Louisville likes to play fast as they use their defensive pressure to force quick offense. Out rebounding and creating turnovers are a great recipe for winning and Louisville is great at both. They will try and force their style of play on NC State in hopes they can create lots of turnovers and easy baskets. Game time is Sunday at 1 o’clock with coverage on The ACC Network.

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RizDolla
RizDolla
7 years ago

I haven’t posted in awhile because there really isn’t a reason to. But I do want to ask Packinsider this. Is this comedy show (like the rest of the games) still the players fault, lack of leadership on the court etc etc. Or is Mark just a bad coach and not ACC ready? Lets be honest.. If you have in past post I apologize I haven’t been back to your site in awhile.

RizDolla
RizDolla
7 years ago
Reply to  RizDolla

List of ACC coaches Mike K. , Roy W., Rick Pitino, Jim Boeheim, Jim Larrañaga, Leonard Hamilton, Danny Manning,Mike Brey, Tony Bennett (Va.) just in case you didn’t know and this is to name a few. We lost to other programs with less “notable” coaches if Im not mistaken. If we want to win be able to compete and not lose players. FIRE GOTT HE GOTT TO GO. This will be my last post waste of time!

Tyler White
Tyler White
7 years ago
Reply to  RizDolla

@rizdolla I think it is a combination of a lot of factors. There is no consistency across the board. The players haven’t played with the needed energy and focus on getting stops. Offensively there is not much movement at all which can be attributed to the scheme. Defensively they are dead last giving up 84.4 PPG any team will struggle to win allowing 84.4 points a game.

NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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