ACC Basketball: Donovan Mitchell, Cardinals roll against Wolfpack

Louisville crushed NC State on Sunday afternoon to continue their trend of dominating the weaker ACC basketball teams.

The Louisville Cardinals defeated the North Carolina State Wolfpack, 85-60, Sunday afternoon at the KFC Yum! Center. The Cardinals moved to 18-4 overall (6-3 in conference), while the Wolfpack fell to 14-8 (3-6).

The game started out with two quick NC State threes to take a 6-0 lead less than a minute in, but that would be about as good as things would get for the Wolfpack. Donovan Mitchell went on an offensive tear for Louisville in the following minutes, scoring the Cardinals’ first 14 points. Louisville took their first lead at 11-9 and would go on to dominate the rest of the first half.

While NC State did show some life right before intermission, the Cardinals ended any hope of a comeback with an 11-2 run immediately after the break. The game was all but over after that, as Louisville cruised to an eventual 25-point victory in dominant fashion.

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For the Wolfpack, this loss was their fifth in their last seven games. They looked to be headed in the right direction after their upset victory over Duke six days ago, but they seem to have failed to build on that momentum after their blowout loss on Sunday.

Making matters even worse for NC State, their freshman phenom, Dennis Smith Jr., turned in his worst performance of the season against Louisville. The surefire lottery pick failed to reach double digits for the first time in his brief career, and he looked to be totally lost against the Cardinals’ vaunted pressure defense. Smith finished just 3-of-12 from the floor to go along with five turnovers.

On the winning side of the contest, Louisville continues to beat up on the weaker ACC teams. They have now won six of their last seven, with four of those wins coming against teams in the bottom third of the ACC standings. Their last three victories, including Sunday’s contest against NC State, have been especially one-sided as they have won them by an average of 37.3 points (this includes their 55-point victory over Pittsburgh last week).

Louisville has allowed more than 70 points just once since the New Year, and is currently second in the country in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom. Their defense continues to be among the best in the country, but what has also helped them get back into the ACC championship picture is the play of sophomore stud, Donovan Mitchell.

Many were predicting Mitchell to have a breakout season, and he has been nothing short of sensational after bouncing back from a slow start to the year. In his last eight games going into Louisville’s meeting with NC State, Mitchell was averaging 18.5 points, four rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.9 steals on impressive 44/44/80 shooting splits. His 28-point, 8-rebound, 5-assist performance against the Wolfpack continues his trend of dominant performances in 2017, and he has played his way into the conversation for a first-team All-ACC selection.

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The Cardinals have a six-day layoff before a game against lowly Boston College, and NC State will be home against Syracuse on Wednesday. The Wolfpack have a lot of catching up to do if they want to be dancing in March after missing the Tournament last season. Louisville has another matchup with a bottom of the standings ACC team before meeting Virginia on February 6th.

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