The No. 21 NC State men’s basketball team will conclude its three-game road trip as they take on the No. 23 Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals are currently on a three-game winning streak that started with a huge 21-point win over UNC-Chapel Hill.
Louisville (13-5, 4-1 ACC) has now collected two wins over ranked teams with the victory over UNC after defeating No. 9 Michigan State earlier in November. Forward Jordan Nwora has been hands down Louisville’s best player of late, averaging 18.5 points and over 8 rebounds per game.
“I think we have to play extremely high-level basketball in order to win there,” head coach Kevin Keatts said. “[Louisville] is playing as good of basketball as anyone in their conference.”
The Cardinals are a different team than previous years with first-year head coach Chris Mack, a point Keatts also took note of.
“[The] program has completely bought into their new coach and their system, very similar to us last year,” Keatts said.
The Pack (15-3, 3-2 ACC) is coming off of an important win over Notre Dame after a near-blowout loss to Wake Forest two games ago.
Redshirt junior guard C.J. Bryce went off for a season-high 23 points in that game as he helped propel the Wolfpack to a 77-73 win on a night that saw the rest of the team struggling to make shots. Bryce went 9 for 14 from the field and a perfect 5 for 5 from beyond the arc.
“I knew [3-point shooting] was an aspect I needed to add to my game for this team to be successful, and I’m willing to take those shots,” Bryce said. “I can’t tell you the secret formula.”
Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly has been struggling with his shot as of late, putting up single-digit points in his past three games despite playing 30-plus minutes. He’s getting the touches with nearly 10 shots per game and NC State will be looking for him to step up his offense if they hope to win.
NC State has had different guys step up each game, but none have made as much of an impact as redshirt sophomore forward DJ Funderburk. Coming off the bench, Funderburk has given the Pack energy every game with his physicality and offensive rebounding, stepping into the vacant role of a true center.
“My teammates drive me,” Funderburk said, “We all just have a great bond and we all just try to come together and complete one goal at the end of every game.”
The Wolfpack is also waiting on the return of injured junior guard Markell Johnson. Johnson has missed two games since sustaining an injury after a hard fall against Pitt in the first half. In those games, NC State has gone 1-1 in close matches against unranked opponents.
“He’s a guy that can play on Thursday or could play three or four weeks from now,” Keatts said on Johnson. “I’m not going to play him until, mentally and physically, he feels like he is ready to play.”
If Johnson is unavailable come Thursday, the Pack will lean on successful player rotations and balanced offense to give it the edge against a talented and hardworking Louisville team.
Tipoff is at 8 p.m. Thursday in Louisville, Kentucky and can be watched on Raycom Sports.
Redshirt sophomore forward DJ Funderburk shoots a free throw against No. 12 UNC-Chapel Hill on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at PNC Arena. Funderburk recorded 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting along with five rebounds and two blocks as the Wolfpack lost 90-82.
