Cardinals Travel to NC State on Thursday

Thursday, January 7

Raleigh, NC

7:00 PM ET

University of Louisville

NC State

January 06, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Louisville faces NC State for first ACC road game of the season

By: Kim Pemberton

GAME 15
Date: Jan. 7, 2016
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: PNC Arena (19,700) Raleigh, N.C.
Television: ESPN2- Bob Wischusen, play-by-play; LaPhonso Ellis, analyst.
Radio: WHAS (840 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius channel 81, XM 81)
Series History: Tied 9-9 (5-2 in Louisville, 3-4 in Raleigh,1-3 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 75, NC State 65 (March 27, 2015 in Syracuse, N.Y. NCAA East Region semifinals)
UofL National Ranking: 16th USA Today, 16th Associated Press
Officials: Doug Shows, Michael Stephens, Joe Lindsay
Next UofL Game: Jan. 10 at Clemson, Greenville, S.C., Noon ET (ACC Regional Sports Networks/Fox Sports South in Louisville)

Louisville plays its first Atlantic Coast Conference road game of the season as the Cardinals visit the North Carolina State University Wolfpack in Raleigh, N.C. on Thursday. Louisville beat Wake Forest 65-57 in its ACC opener on Sunday as Chinanu Onuaku grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds while adding 12 points and four blocked shots.

The Cardinals are led by two players averaging double figures, Damion Lee leads the duo of top scorers with 17.6 points per game. Trey Lewis ranks second on the team in scoring with 14.3 per game. Quentin Snider also leads the team in assists with 4.0 per game while averaging 9.2 points. Chinanu Onuaku leads the team in rebounding with 8.2 per game while averaging 9.6 points per game.

As a team, the Cardinals are shooting 50.8 percent from the field while holding opponents to 36.3 percent shooting. Louisville leads the nation in scoring margin, defeating opponents by an average of 26.3 points per game. The Cards are also averaging 42.5 rebounds and 14.1 assists per game.

NC State (10-4, 0-1) has won six of its last seven games and eight of its last 10, but fell at Virginia Tech 73-68 in overtime on Jan. 2 in its ACC opener as junior guard Anthony "Cat" Barber scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Barber leads the ACC and is 10th in the nation in scoring, averaging 22.9 points. He passed the 1,000-point career scoring mark on Dec. 22. Barber leads the ACC in minutes (38.9 minutes per game), is fourth in assists (4.9), sixth in free throw percentage (.847) and 10th in assist-turnover ratio (2.38). Junior forward Beejay Anya leads the ACC and is seventh nationally in blocked shots (3.1). Sophomore guard Caleb Martin is fifth in the ACC in three-pointers (35, 2.5 per game). Ranked 17^th nationally in turnovers per game (10.2) and 32^nd in the nation in rebounding margin (+7.0), NC State is 91st in the ratings percentage index (RPI) and 76^th in the Sagarin Ratings through Jan. 3.

Louisville is tied 9-9 in its series against NC State, splitting the two meetings last season. The Wolfpack won 74-65 in the KFC Yum! Center (2-14-15) as Chris Jones led UofL with 20 points, while the Cardinals won 75-65 in the NCAA East Region semifinals in Syracuse, N.Y. (3-27-15) as Montrezl Harrell led UofL with 24 points and Terry Rozier added 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.

CARD FILE:

UofL has won its first conference road game in each of the last eight seasons.
Damion Lee needs 15 points to reach 1,800 for his career. Trey Lewis needs 23 points for 1,300 career points.
Louisville's 135 victories over the last five years are the second-most wins in the nation in that stretch. Louisville and Wichita State are the only schools in the nation to win 30 games in three of the last four seasons.
UofL leads the nation in scoring margin (+26.3) and rebounding margin (+13.9), is second in scoring defense (57.4), and fourth in field goal percentage defense (.363).
Louisville is ninth in the nation in field goal percentage (.508). UofL has shot above 50 percent in nine of its 14 games. The Cards shot 50 percent or above on eight occasions all last season. UofL is 24th nationally in scoring (83.6 ppg).
Louisville has opened with at least a12-2 record through 14 games for the sixth straight season.
UofL has a 28-13 record during the month of January over the last five years, including a 12-4 record in the last three years.
Louisville has a 60-34 record over the last 10 years on its opponents' home court.
UofL has a 42-13 record in conference games over the past four seasons.
Damion Lee has been the Cardinals' top scorer in nine of 14 games this season. He is among the ACC leaders in scoring (17.9, 4th), steals (1.6, 5th) and free throw percentage (.892, 2nd).