Second-Half Lapse Sends Cardinals to Road Defeat at NC State

Thursday, December 22

Raleigh, NC

7 p.m.

University of Louisville

2-11,0-3ACC

NC State

11-3,1-2ACC

Louisville

NC State

Second-Half Lapse Sends Cardinals to Road Defeat at NC State

December 22, 2022 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)VIDEO: Kenny Payne/Brandon Huntley-Hatfield Press Conference

By: Zach Greenwell

RALEIGH, N.C. — Louisville men's basketball battled with NC State on Thursday night, but a 17-0 run by the Wolfpack in the second half busted open a tied game and sent the Cardinals to a 76-64 defeat.

Senior guard El Ellis tied the game at 33 with two free throws two minutes into the second half. NC State (11-3, 1-2 ACC) scored the next 17 points as the Cardinals went more than seven minutes without a field goal.

Casey Morsell's 3-pointer ended the run with the Wolfpack up 50-33.

"I thought we played hard," UofL head coach Kenny Payne said. "Made a lot of mistakes, but overall I thought we played OK. Still would've liked to come out with a better result. I thought we proved we can play with them, but we just need to do it more consistently. They got (17) more shots than us. Our 17 turnovers, their 12 offensive rebounds – that'll give them more shots than us. We have to do a better job and be more physical and rebound the ball, and we have to continually take care of the basketball."

Louisville (2-11, 0-3) got off to a fast start with an early 9-0 run and later led 21-16 after a basket by senior forward Sydney Curry at the 8:05 mark.

NC State then went on its own 9-0 run capped with back-to-back 3s from Morsell, taking advantage of nine first-half turnovers by the Cardinals.

Sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield tied it for UofL at 28-all with a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in the frame, but Jarkel Joiner knocked down another 3 shortly after to give the Wolfpack a 31-28 lead at the break.

Louisville fought back after NC State's second-half surge with its own 8-0 run to get back within 10 after a pair of post-up layups by redshirt freshman guard/forward Mike James. The Cardinals didn't come any closer as NC State was able to preserve its lead.

"We just weren't communicating that well as a collective," Huntley-Hatfield said. "Once they started hitting those 3s and we had those mistakes, we didn't come together. We just splintered off, and that's how they kept going on the run. We didn't communicate well, and our body language showed it. Once a team makes a little run, we have to come together so teams can't keep going on runs and getting 3 balls."

Curry led UofL with 16 points, while Ellis added 15 points and five rebounds. Huntley-Hatfield tallied a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The Cardinals shot 51.1% from the field overall, but committed 17 turnovers against just four turnovers and got 17 less shots than the Wolfpack.

NC State made 10 of 26 3-pointers in the game, including six in the second half. D.J. Burns led the Wolfpack with 17 points and six boards.

The Cardinals now break for the holidays until they complete non-conference play with a rivalry road trip to Kentucky at 12 p.m. ET Dec. 31 in Lexington, Ky. The game will air on CBS.