NCAAB Game Preview - Louisville at North Carolina State

Sat Feb 1, 2020 2:00 PM EST

Louisville has certainly made an early statement in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

It's time for North Carolina State to do the same, its coach said.

That's the mindset for the upset-minded Wolfpack when they go against the visiting Cardinals on Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, N.C.

"There's a lot of basketball to be played, and a lot of teams that can determine our fate whether we win or lose those games," said NC State coach Kevin Keatts, whose team lost consecutive games to sub-.500 opponents. "We play some really good teams at home at PNC Arena."

No. 6 Louisville (18-3, 9-1 ACC) has won seven games in a row, marking its best stretch as an ACC member. The team's league record is its best mark since it recorded the same record in 2008-09 as a member of the Big East Conference.

The first-place Cardinals have won all five ACC road games this season.

Louisville junior forward Jordan Nwora poured in 37 points in Wednesday night's 86-69 victory at Boston College.

"Jordan always has a confidence level about him," Louisville coach Chris Mack said. "Jordan found his openings and I felt really took advantage of."

The Cardinals bagged 12 baskets from 3-point range at Boston College, tying their season high in that category. Nwora sank seven of them for the most in his career.

"He has a lightning-quick release," Mack said. "Again, he's tall, and it's something that not every team is prepared for."

Keatts has challenged his team to become tougher after losses at Georgia Tech and then Monday night's home meeting against rival North Carolina.

"We need to fix our issues like mental and physical toughness if we want to win those games," Keatts said. "That's what it will come down to."

The message seems to have been delivered to the Wolfpack.

"We have to come out with excellent energy and lock in these next few games and at practice," said 6-11 forward/center Manny Bates.

The Wolfpack will look to get senior guard C.J. Bryce untracked. He had been the team's leading scorer, but he went scoreless in each of the past two games on combined 0-for-12 shooting from the field.

"I'm going to stick with him," Keatts said. "But we have to figure it out because C.J. is a big part of who we are. We have become so reliant on him."

Bryce scored in double figures in 10 of NC State's first 12 games this season. The Wolfpack went 2-2 when he sat out games with a concussion. When he hasn't scored in double figures, NC State holds a 2-3 record.

Louisville turned to a zone defense in the second half against Boston College. That's something that had been discussed for a few weeks, Mack said, and now it could be part of the solution if there are rough stretches on the defensive end.

"Let's at least give ourselves a look at it and see how we do," Mack said. "... It's something that we have practiced, even though we haven't shown it a whole lot."

Louisville has won four of the last five meetings with the Wolfpack, though its last visit to Raleigh resulted in a loss to end the 2017-18 regular season.

--Field Level Media