NC State men’s basketball is advancing to the second round of the ACC Tournament after surviving a challenge from Louisville 94-85 in Washington, D.C. 

Both teams arrived at the tournament needing to win the whole thing to expect to play in the NCAA Tournament later this month. While the Cardinals (8-24, 3-17 ACC) started hot, the Wolfpack (18-14, 9-11 ACC) rallied to fight on to another day, despite missing star graduate guard DJ Horne. 

Without Horne, the Wolfpack faced an uphill battle. Horne has been NC State’s most effective offensive threat this season. He also is the red-and-white’s most reliable 3-point shooter. NC State appeared lost without Horne initially, but found its footing thanks to the rest of the Wolfpack’s guards’ elevated play. 

The Pack dug itself into a hole early, trailing by as many as 12 in the first half. The Cardinals confidently attacked the Wolfpack defense in the paint and behind the arc. However, the red-and-white cracked the code on Louisville’s offense and began to force turnover after turnover, ultimately making the difference in the game. 

For the game, Louisville committed 16 turnovers, leading to 22 Wolfpack points. Twelve of these turnovers came from steals since the Pack’s aggressive perimeter defense poked at ball handlers and jumped passing lanes. Junior guard Jayden Taylor was especially impactful with a team-high four steals, while graduate guard Michael O’Connell racked up three himself. 

Taylor’s most noticeable impact came from his steals, but his overall performance was critical to the Pack. While none of the red-and-white’s bigs were able to effectively clean the glass, Taylor stepped up with eight rebounds. Offensively, Taylor poured in 18 points, including a pair of clutch 3s near the end to stave off the Cardinals’ late comeback attempt. 

While Taylor shined in the second half, O’Connell kept NC State afloat as it weathered the early storm. In the first half, the Stanford transfer shot 5-6 for 11 points. Without O’Connell playing lights-out in the first half, Louisville’s halftime lead likely would’ve been much larger than 1. 

Returning home to the DMV, graduate guard Casey Morsell was instrumental in the Wolfpack’s win. The Maryland native posted 25 points off of 5-12 shooting. Morsell did the most damage at the charity stripe, hitting all 13 of his free throws. NC State dominated Louisville at the line, hitting 22 more free throws than the Cardinals. 

Even with strong contributions from its three starting guards, NC State nearly allowed the Cardinals to steal the lead late. Louisville’s Skyy Clark put the Cardinals on his back and stormed back into the game. Clark shot 7-9 from deep, torching the Wolfpack defense at every opportunity. With under five minutes to play, Clark buried a triple to knot the game at 75 apiece. 

With the season on the line, NC State pulled itself together, led by Taylor who responded to Clark with a 3 of his own. NC State never relinquished the lead afterwards and handled business at the line down the stretch, securing the 94-85 win. 

With the win, NC State punched its ticket to the second round of the ACC Tournament. The Pack will face seventh-seeded Syracuse on Wednesday, March 13, at 7 p.m. Like the Wolfpack’s first game, this one will likely be an elimination game for making the NCAA Tournament.