Cardinals Host NC State in a Top 25 Match Up

GAME 19
Date: Jan. 24, 2019
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,000) (141-22 in 9th year)
Television: Raycom (WAVE-TV in Louisville; other stations: click link to the right) - Tom Werme, play-by-play; Mike Gminski, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (Sirius 133, XM channel 193, Internet 955)
Series History: Louisville leads 11-10 (6-2 in Louisville, 4-5 in Raleigh, 1-3 neutral)
Last Meeting: NC State 76, UofL 69 (March 3, 2018 in Raleigh, N.C.)
UL National Ranking: 23rd Associated Press, 24th USA Today
Officials: Brian Dorsey, Mike Roberts, Chuck Jones
Next UofL Game: Jan. 26 vs. Pittsburgh, KFC Yum! Center, 2:06 p.m. ET (Raycom/WHAS-TV)

Louisville, ranked 23rd by AP and 24th in the USA Today poll, returns home to the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the NC State Wolfpack on Thursday.

Louisville won its third straight and seventh in the last nine games as the Cardinals won 79-51 at Georgia Tech last Saturday. Jordan Nwora led the Cardinals with 25 points and eight rebounds, while Christen Cunningham handed out a season-best 11 assists without a turnover. UofL handed out a season-high 21 assists and held Georgia Tech to 38 percent shooting from the field.

The Cardinals are very balanced on the offensive end, with four players averaging over eight points. Sophomore Jordan Nwora leads the Cardinals in in scoring and rebounding with 18.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Christen Cunningham is second on the team in scoring with 10.4 points and leads the team with 72 assists on the year. Dwayne Sutton ranks third on the team in scoring with 9.9 points along with 6.8 rebounds per game. Steven Enoch averages 9.6 points per game along with 5.2 rebounds per game.

Coached by former UofL assistant Kevin Keatts, NC State (14-3, 2-2 ACC), ranked 17th by AP and 16th in the USA Today poll, has won nine of its last 11 games, including winning 77-73 at Notre Dame on Jan. 19 in its last game as CJ Price led the Wolfpack with 23 points (9-of-14 FG, 5-of-5 3FG).

NC State is sixth in the nation in scoring offense (86.7), 10^th in turnovers forced per game (17.6), 10th in rebound margin (+8.2), 17th in field goal percentage (.494), 17th in assists per game (17.3) and 20th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.293). NC State is No. 24 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 17 in
ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI), No. 26 in the NET rankings and No. 30 by Ken Pomeroy through Jan. 20.

Louisville has an 11-10 series edge over NC State, winning three of the last four matchups. UofL fell 76-69 in last season's meeting in Raleigh, N.C. (3-3-18) as Deng Adel led the Cardinals with 20 points and seven rebounds.

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Jordan Nwora is just the third Louisville player over the last 17 years to score 25 or more points in back-to-back games. Nwora scored a career-high 32 points against Boston College before pouring in 25 at Georgia Tech in his last game. Nwora is the second-most improved scorer in the nation with his 18.5 scoring average up 12.8 ppg from his 5.7 average last year. He needs eight points for 500 in his career.
Christen Cunningham became just the third UofL player in the last 47 years to hand out 11 assists without a turnover when he accomplished that feat at Georgia Tech. In his last seven games, he has shot 63.6 percent from the field – including 61.1 percent from the three-point line (11-of-18) – while averaging 14.1 points and 6.0 assists.
With its debut at No. 23 in the AP rankings this week, Louisville is one of only five schools to be ranked in the AP Top 25 poll at least once during each of the past 17 seasons, excluding preseason polls (others: Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, and North Carolina).
UofL has scored 80 or more points in 11 of its 18 games (79.9 ppg) and the Cardinals are 13th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy. UofL leads the ACC in scoring offense for conference games (83.6 ppg).
Louisville has a 44-12 record in its conference home games over the last six years (.786). UofL has the fourth-most conference home wins in its five years in the ACC with a 29-9 ACC home record.
Dwayne Sutton has had double-doubles in three of the last four games.
Louisville's 2019 signing class is ranked second in the nation by ESPN.com, fifth by Rivals.com and fifth by 247sports.com.

University of Louisville Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Christen Cunningham

Steven Enoch

Jordan Nwora

Dwayne Sutton

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