NC State (14-7, 3-5 ACC) has won two of its last three games, recovering from a 12-point deficit to win 84-82 at Duke on Monday night. The win was the first for the Wolfpack at Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1995. Freshman Dennis Smith, Jr. scored a career-high 32 points and added six assists, four rebounds and two steals in the game.
Smith, a projected top five pick in this year’s NBA Draft, leads NC State in scoring (19.5 ppg), assists (6.5 apg) and steals (2.2 apg). West Virginia transfer Terry Henderson, who suffered a season-ending injury just seven minutes into last season, is second on the team in scoring at 14.5 ppg.
NC State is 27th in the nation in scoring offense (81.6 ppg) and 33rd in field goal percentage (.480). Smith leads the ACC in assists (6.6, 10th in the nation) and steals (2.2, 23rd in the nation) and is fifth in scoring (18.9 ppg).
Notable:
—Louisville is sixth in the nation in field goal defense (.375), seventh in blocked shots (6.2 bpg) fifth in three-point field goal percentage defense (.282) and 10th in offensive rebounds per game (14.4).
—Sunday will serve as Louisville’s annual “White Out” game. Fans are encouraged to wear white.
—Louisville will be without the services of its two primary point guards — Quentin Snider (hip flexor) and Tony Hicks (broken bone in right hand).
—Louisville is one of just five teams ranked in the current AP Poll that has not lost this week. Three of those five teams still have games to play today. Baylor and Gonzaga are the only teams that have secured perfect weeks.
—NC State’s win at Duke on Monday was the Pack’s first road win of the season.
—After being outrebounded in five of the first seven games of the season, the Pack has outrebounded its opponents in nine of its last 14 games.
—Louisville has won at least 17 of its first 21 games in six of the last seven seasons.
—Two stats that are a good predictor of the result for NC State - rebounding and opponent field goal percentage. The Pack is 9-2 this season when it outrebounds its opponent, but just 5-5 when the opponent wins the battle on the boards. This season when NC State holds its opponent to 45 percent shooting or worse from the field, the Pack is 10-1. NC State is 4-6 if its opponent shoots over 45 percent from the field.
—In the Pack's 14 wins this season, opponents are shooting 39.2 percent from the field (355-906). In the Pack's seven losses, opponents are shooting 49.5 percent (225-455).
—Louisville has a 32-8 record in its conference home games over the last five years (.800), including an 8-1 record last season in ACC games in the KFC Yum! Center.
—Louisville has a 38-17 record during the month of January over the last seven years, including a 22-8 record in the last four years.
Ken Pomeroy Prediction: Louisville 85, NC State 67
