Pack Returns Home to Host Louisville Wednesday Night

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NC State Game Notes | Louisville Game Notes

RALEIGH, N.C. – After a two-game road trip to California last week, the NC State men's basketball returns home Wednesday night to host Louisville inside the Lenovo Center.

Tipoff against the Cardinals is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2. NC State fans can also listen to Matt Chazanow and Tony Haynes call the action on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

Pack Tracks
- The Pack dropped a heartbreaker in its second game of its two-game trip to California, falling to Stanford, 74-73, on Saturday evening.
- Stanford went on a 16-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 61-52 with 8:29 to play, but NC State outscored the Cardinal, 21-11 over the next eight minutes to take a 73-72 lead with 18 seconds to play. Stanford scored the game-winning basket on its next possession and Trey Parker's game-winning attempt was off the mark at the buzzer.
- Trey Parker had the best game of his collegiate career against the Cardinal as he finished the game with a season-best 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting. He made a career-high five three-pointers in the game and also passed out five assists and had zero turnovers in a season-high 28 minutes.
- Parker has made the most of an increased role lately as he has now scored 49 points in the last four games and is shooting 52.8 percent (19-of-36) from the field, including 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from three-point range. Before the last four games, Parker had only scored 14 points in a 12-game stretch from Dec. 4 vs. Texas through Jan. 25 vs. SMU.
- Marcus Hill scored 14 points against Stanford and has now scored in double figures in 14 of the last 16 games. The Rockford, Ill., native leads the Pack in scoring at 12.9 points per game and ranks seventh in the ACC in field goal percentage at 48.0 percent. Hill is second on the team with 45 assists and has a 2.05 assist-to-turnover ratio (45-to-22).
- Dontrez Styles scored 18 points and added a team-high seven rebounds at Stanford. Over the last four games, Styles is averaging 16.5 points per game and has made 11-of-19 three-pointers (57.9%). After going scoreless against Cal on Jan. 18, Styles was averaging 8.9 points per game on the season, but in the five games since then Styles has raised his scoring average from 8.9 to 10.3 points per game.
-NC State had six turnovers against Stanford and had just 11 total in its two-game trip to the state of California last week. The Pack has now had single digit turnovers in seven of its last nine games and 13 overall this season. NC State leads the ACC and ranks seventh in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (9.3).

Wednesday Storylines
- NC State has two players on its roster that played for Louisville the last two seasons in Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Mike James. Huntley-Hatfield scored 574 points in two seasons with the Cards, averaging 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last season as he was named Honorable Mention All-ACC. James spent three years with the Cardinals, redshirting in the 2021-22 season before playing the last two seasons. James scored 724 points in his two years at Louisville, averaging 12.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last season. James has missed the entire 2024-25 season with a knee injury.
- Marcus Hill enters Wednesday's game against Louisville just five points shy of 1,000 career points. Hill is listed as a senior, but this is just his second year playing Division I basketball after playing two years of JUCO. Hill has played 57 career games at the DI level and averages 17.5 points per game in those contests.
- NC State's defense has held the ACC's top scoring offenses in check this season. SMU leads the ACC in scoring at 82.3 points per game, but was held to just 63 in its visit to the Lenovo Center on Jan. 25. North Carolina is second in the ACC at 80.6 points per game, but the Pack held the Tar Heels to a season-low 63 points on Jan. 11. Louisville enters Wednesday's game, fourth in the ACC in scoring at 79.2 points per game. Louisville has scored at least 70 points in 15 straight games while NC State has only allowed 70 or more points three times in 14 home games this season. The most points the Pack has given up at the Lenovo Center this season is 74 to Florida State (and that game against the Seminoles went to overtime).
- Finish out close games. Saturday's game at Stanford was the Pack's 12th ACC game of the season and marked the 11th time in those 12 contests that NC State has held a second half lead. NC State has now led in the second half in nine of its 10 conference losses this season. Seven of the Pack's 10 losses have been within one possession with under four minutes to play and NC State has led in the final four minutes in four of those 10 losses.
- Get Ben Middlebrooks back on track offensively: The NC State senior scored in double figures in 10 of the first 17 games he played this season, but has only scored 13 points total on 3-of-17 shooting in the last five outings. In the last five games, NC State has been outscored in the paint by 64 points (172-to-108).
- One of NC State's calling cards in the Kevin Keatts era is turning opponent's turnovers into points. In the Pack's nine wins this season, it is averaging 19.3 points per game off opponents turnovers and has outscored the opponents in points off turnovers by 102 points. In the Pack's 14 losses it averages just 10.8 points off opponent turnovers and has outscored its opponents in points off turnovers by just 14 points (151-to-137).

NC State series with Louisville
- Wednesday will be the 29th all-time meeting between NC State and Louisville and the series is tied at 14.
- NC State has won the last four games between the two programs and Kevin Keatts is 5-3 against the Cardinals as head coach of NC State.
- Last Meeting (March 12, 2024): NC State started its historic run to an ACC Championship last season with a come-from-behind 94-85 win over Louisville in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Louisville jumped out to a 23-11 lead and shot 66.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes to take a 46-45 advantage into halftime. NC State scored the opening basket of the second half and never trailed again. Casey Morsell scored 25 points to lead NC State. Also reaching double figures for the Pack was Jayden Taylor who finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals. The eight rebounds were a then-career-high and the four steals tied a then-career-high. Michael O'Connell poured in a season-high 16 points while D.J. Burns, Jr., added 12 points and Ben Middlebrooks finished with 11.

Pack Returns Home to Host Louisville Wednesday Night

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Players Mentioned

Marcus Hill

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

Mike James

Ben Middlebrooks

Casey Morsell

Michael O'Connell

Trey Parker

Dontrez Styles

Jayden Taylor