Louisville Basketball: 2018-19 keys for the Cardinals against NC State

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: Steven Enoch #23 of the Louisville Cardinals and Dwayne Sutton #24 react during the first half of the game against Marquette Golden Eagles at the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament at Barclays Center on November 23, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

4 of 4

WINSTON-SALEM, NORTH CAROLINA – JANUARY 15: Devon Daniels #24 of the North Carolina State Wolfpack tries to stop Brandon Childress #0 of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during a game at LJVM Coliseum Complex on January 15, 2019 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

3. Louisville needs to take advantage of N.C. State’s fouling

One final key to a Louisville will be their ability to exploit N.C. State’s propensity to commit fouls. As of this writing, the Wolfpack commit over 20 fouls per game, which is next to last in the conference and 296th in the country. On the season the Wolfpack have allowed opponents to shoot over 22 free throws per game and so far in ACC play, the number of attempts at the charity stripe climbs to 27.

This is one area the Cardinals can really take advantage of, their 75.3 % is top-30 in the sport and second-best in the conference only behind Virginia. They are also tops in the conference in free-throw attempts (469) and makes (338) and both of those numbers are top-25 in the country. Of the nine players that have played in at least 17 games averaging at least 15 minutes per game, seven of them shoot at least 72% from the free throw line and six of them have attempted over 40 free throws so it shouldn’t matter who it is.

Next. Top 5 ACC players midway through season. dark

As long as Louisville is aggressive getting to the basket, forcing the Wolfpack to commit fouls and get to the line it will give them a big advantage.

Home/Louisville Cardinals