David Tracey
Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly dribbles against UNC-Chapel Hill on Jan. 8 at PNC Arena. Beverly tied a game-high 21 points along with four assists in the Wolfpack’s 90-82 loss.
No. 21 NC State men’s basketball’s turbulent start to ACC play continued with an 84-77 loss to No. 23 Louisville at KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
The difference in the game was made at the charity stripe as the Cardinals (13-6, 5-1 ACC) shot 29 free throws, making 24 compared to the Wolfpack’s (15-4, 3-3) minimal 5 of 7 from the line. Turnovers also cost the Pack as the team turned the ball over an abysmal 23 times leading to 37 Louisville points.
Redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn, who finished the game with 18 points and six rebounds, started off strong scoring the first four points of the game for the Wolfpack but the Cardinals jumped out to an early 10-6 lead after nailing back-to-back 3s.
Following a series of sloppy possessions by the Wolfpack the Cardinals extended their early lead to 20-10. The lead could have been much larger had Louisville hit more of the 3s it attempted during the 10-4 scoring run.
The Wolfpack came out of a timeout fired up and went on a run of its own with redshirt sophomore guard Devon Daniels hitting a pair of free throws before sophomore guard Braxton Beverly, who led the Wolfpack with 19 points, added to the run with a corner three to cut the Cardinals’ lead to five. The Wolfpack took the lead back at 25-24 for the first time since the second minute of the game following a Beverly 3 which rounded out a 15-4 run for the Wolfpack.
The remainder of the half was very tight, ending with the Cardinals taking a one-point lead into the locker room. Dorn led the Wolfpack in the first half with 14 points; he also added four rebounds and two assists.
The Wolfpack started the second half off sloppily with four turnovers in the first five minutes as the Cardinals pushed their advantage to six.
The sloppy slide for the Wolfpack ended with a 3 from freshman forward Jericole Hellems which sparked a 10-0 NC State run as it tied the game up at 61 apiece.
The next few minutes of the game were back and forth with Lousville just edging an advantage throughout until the Cardinals began to pull away. Following five straight points for Louisville the Wolfpack found itself down six with just over four minutes left.
The Wolfack made it close late, pulling the Louisville lead as low as just two with a minute and a half left, but it was too little too late as the Cardinals made their free throws count late in the game to run out an 84-77 win.
The Wolfpack will be back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. as it takes on Clemson in PNC Arena.