Louisville @ NC State preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 24, 2019 ) NC State 77, Louisville 84

Junior forward Jordan Nwora looks to follow up a career-best performance Saturday afternoon when fifth-ranked Louisville attempts to remain unbeaten on the road in the ACC against struggling North Carolina State. Nwora, the league’s leading scorer (19.5), drained seven 3-pointers en route to a career-high 37 points in Wednesday’s 86-69 win at Boston College after totaling 26 in the previous three contests.

Nwora said it is all about winning, no matter what his point total is, and the Cardinals have done that seven times in a row while improving to 5-0 away from home in the conference after outscoring the Eagles 41-26 in the second half. “We haven’t changed our mindsets at all. It’s just business,” Nwora told reporters after the win. “We know what our team can achieve, and we’re just kind of staying true to what the coaches want us to do and we’re winning because of it.” Louisville, which has won four of the last five meetings, will likely have its hands full with an angry Wolfpack team that lost at Georgia Tech last weekend and was outplayed by rival North Carolina 75-65 at home on Monday to drop to .500 in the league (5-5). "We need to fix our issues like mental and physical toughness if we want to win those games," NC State coach Kevin Keatts told reporters. "That's what it will come down to."

TIME: 2 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT LOUISVILLE (18-3, 9-1 ACC): Nwora easily leads the team in scoring, adds 7.4 rebounds per contest after pulling down nine Wednesday and is connecting on 43.9 percent of his 3-point attempts - good for top 20 in the nation. Senior forward Steven Enoch is the only other player averaging in double figures scoring (10.6 on 50.9 percent shooting) while senior forward Dwayne Sutton averages 9.1 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds. Junior forward Malik Williams matched his career high with 13 boards against Boston College and junior point guard Darius Perry averaged 16.5 points the last two games - 10 above his season mark.

ABOUT NC STATE (14-7, 5-5): Senior guard C.J. Bryce had been leading the team in scoring all season, but is a baffling 0-for-12 from the field without registering a point in 53 total minutes the last two games to drop to 13.1 overall. Senior point guard Markell Johnson tops the team in scoring (13.2) after averaging 16.5 the last two outings and is second in the league in assists (6.5), but is shooting under 40 percent from the floor overall. Junior forward DJ Funderburk scored 18 versus North Carolina and has recorded double-figure points in 10 of his last 11 games to boost his season mark to 13.1 on 63.9 percent from the field.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. NC State junior G Devon Daniels averaged 14.5 points the last two games to push his season mark to 11.3.

2. Louisville senior G Ryan McMahon scored just 21 total the past five games, but is shooting 42.9 percent from beyond the arc overall.

3. Wolfpack freshman C Manny Bates is averaging 5.4 points and leads the ACC with 3.05 blocks per contest.

PREDICTION: Louisville 76, NC State 67