Cards Begin ACC Tourney Tuesday Against NC State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville men's basketball begins play in the 2024 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament as the No. 15 seed on Tuesday, when it will face 10th-seeded NC State at 4:30 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C. The game will air on ACC Network.

The Cardinals finished the regular season Saturday with a 67-61 home loss to Boston College. NC State fell 81-73 at Pitt on Saturday for its fourth straight defeat.

Louisville is 14-13 all-time against the Wolfpack, including an 89-83 home loss on Jan. 13. The Cardinals are 1-2 in the series on a neutral court, and the teams have never met in the ACC Tournament.

GAME 32

ACC Tournament First Round
#15 Louisville (8-23) vs. #10 NC State (17-14)
March 12, 2024 | 4:30 p.m. CT
Capital One Arena | Washington, D.C.

MEDIA INFO

Listen: Cardinal Sports Network (WLCL 93.9 FM & WGTK 970 AM flagship); Streaming (Paul Rogers, pxp | Jody Demling, analysis)

Watch: ACC Network (Wes Durham, pxp | Cory Alexander, analysis | Jim Boeheim, analysis)

Live Stats: Tournament Stats

TOP STORYLINES

• Since joining Conference USA in 1995-96, Louisville is 17-9 in its first conference tournament game across C-USA, the Big East, the American and the ACC. Louisville is 3-7 overall in the ACC Tournament since joining the league.

• Over the last 10 games, junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is averaging 17.0 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 58.6% from the field (65 of 111). He has eight double-doubles this season after recording just two double-doubles in the first 68 games of his career.

• Guard Ty-Laur Johnson's 108 assists are the fourth-most ever by a Louisville freshman. He recently passed current team Video Coordinator Reece Gaines (1999-00) and trails only LaBradford Smith (156, 1987-88), Jason Osborne (141, 1993-94) – the father of senior forward JJ Traynor – and DeJuan Wheat (109, 1993-94). Over the last nine games, he's averaging 10.9 points, 4.9 assists and 2.0 steals per outing.

• While the Cardinals have been outscored by 101 points across their last 11 games, they've outscored their opponents by 10 with Zan Payne on the court over that span. Payne has scored 10 of his 15 points this season in the last two games, while going 3-for-4 from 3-point range – the first long-range makes of his six-year college career.

• Brandon Huntley-Hatfield is 1 of 6 Louisville players since 1992 to total at least 396 points and 262 rebounds in a season, joining Raymond Spalding (2017-18), Montrezl Harrell (2013-14, '14-15), Earl Clark (2008-09), Terrence Williams (2008-09), and Clifford Rozier (1992-93, '93-94).

HISTORY VS. NC STATE (UofL leads 14-13)

Last Meeting: NC State 89, Louisville 83
Jan. 13, 2024 | Louisville, Ky.

Louisville men's basketball fought back multiple times from an early hole, but couldn't pull it out in an 89-83 loss to NC State at the KFC Yum! Center.

The Cardinals fell into a 12-0 hole to start the game against the Wolfpack. They rallied to take the lead midway through the second half, but ultimately didn't come up with enough stops down the stretch.

NC State's DJ Horne led all scorers with 27 points in 35 minutes off the bench.

Redshirt sophomore guard/forward Mike James led the Cardinals with 20 points, reaching the 20-point mark for the third straight outing.

Freshman Curtis Williams scored 15 points with four 3-pointers, while freshman guard Ty-Laur Johnson added 14 points and five assists. Junior forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield tallied another double-double with 13 points and 10 boards.

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Mike James

Ty-Laur Johnson

Zan Payne

JJ Traynor

Curtis Williams

University of Louisville Athletics