NC State Scores a Season High in a 94-85 Win Over Louisville in 1st Round of ACCT

The #10 seed NC State (18-14) snapped a 4-game losing streak, defeating the #15 seed Louisville (8-24) 94-85 in the 1st round of the 2024 ACC Tournament.

The Wolfpack won without their leading scorer DJ Horne, who warmed up, but was unable ultimately to play, due to an injured hip flexor he suffered at Pitt.

A trio of NC State guards stepped up in a big way to fill the void, especially Senior Casey Morsell, who scored 25 points, which is the most points he has ever scored against an ACC opponent. Thirteen of Casey’s points came from the charity stripe, where he didn’t miss a single shot.

Junior Jayden Taylor chipped in 18 points, to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 steals, which were both team highs. Taylor was 6 of 12 from the field.

The final member of the trio was Senior Michael O’Connell, who had 16 points, making 5 of his 9 field goal attempts.

The Wolfpack had two other players in double figures down in the post. Senior DJ Burns had 12 points, making 4 of 5. Junior Ben Middlebrooks had 11 points.

The 94 points scored by the Pack is the MOST points they have scored all year long, surpassing the 93 points they scored against Maryland-Eastern Shore.

The Wolfpack shot incredibly well this afternoon, making 52.9% from the field, 36.8% from three and 82.5% from the free throw line.

Despite that, if it wasn’t for NC State’s ability to turn the Cardinals over, and then capitalize, this would have been a different result, because Louisville shot the ball even better. The Cardinals shot 55.2% from the field, 55.6% from three and 100% from the charity stripe.

NC State scored 22 points off of 16 Louisville turnovers.

Oh yeah, it might have had something to do with making 33 free throws, compared to Louisville’s 11.

The fact the Wolfpack scored 94 points without DJ Horne will cause you to raise an eyebrow.

NC State will play Syracuse, the #7 seed, tomorrow night at 7pm on ESPN2.