Louisville Cardinals (8-23) vs. NC State Wolfpack (17-14)
March 12, 2024 4:30 pm EDT
The Line: NC State Wolfpack -9.5; Over/Under: 150.5
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The Louisville Cardinals and the NC State Wolfpack meet Tuesday in ACC Tournament college basketball action from Capital One Arena. Let’s get into our Louisville vs. NC State prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals got off to a rough start this year, winning just six of their first 21 games. Louisville would hit a 2-1 run with wins over Florida State and Georgia Tech in the next three. Since then it’s been losses to Boston College, Pitt, Notre Dame, Duke, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Boston College again.
In the rematch with Boston College over the weekend, the Cardinals were down by 10 points at the break. Louisville hit a 30-26 advantage from there but couldn’t close the gap in a 67-61 loss. Brandon Huntley-Hatfield was the team’s leading scorer on 14 points and nine boards.
NC State Wolfpack
Over on the Wolfpack’s side, they kicked off the season on a 13-7 run. NC State went 4-3 over the next seven with wins over Miami, Georgia Tech, Clemson and Boston College. The Wolfpack have since lost four straight to Florida State, North Carolina, Duke and Pittsburgh.
Matched up against Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Wolfpack faced a 10-point deficit going into the second half. NC State scored 44 more points from there in a loss 81-73. Jayden Taylor was the team’s leading scorer with 28 points, seven rebounds and three assists alongside a pair of steals.
ANDREW’S FREE LOUISVILLE VS NC STATE PREDICTION
I’ll take a stab on NC State here. You could make a case either way, though. The Wolfpack were quite permissive to Pittsburgh on defense during their latest loss, giving up 50 percent from the field. Overall NC State didn’t play terribly in that one though, with 46.4 percent from the field and 34 rebounds themselves. The Wolfpack have scored 70 or more points in seven of their last eight games, but they’re also giving up a lot on the other side.
These teams last saw each other back on January 13 in an 89-83 road win for NC State. The Wolfpack shot a nice 54.2 percent from the field in that one but also coughed up 15 turnovers along the way. This one should be fairly close as well. I like NC State to power out the cover, but it’s a coin flip.
