Omer Yurtseven and Braxton Beverly each finished with 13 points for NC State (21-10, 11-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Wolfpack went 7-2 in ACC home games.
Deng Adel's 20 points paced Louisville (19-12, 9-9). Quentin Snider and Ray Spalding each had 12 points for the Cardinals, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
It was a matchup between two teams coming off devastating defeats two nights earlier. NC State fell at Georgia Tech, which had a late-game surge. Louisville surrendered a five-point lead in the final second in a home loss to regular-season champion Virginia.
NC State went 8-for-19 on 3-point attempts Saturday, while Louisville was 5-for-18 from beyond the arc.
NC State used a 7-0 burst for a 51-48 lead, resulting in a Louisville timeout with 12:03 remaining. The Wolfpack subsequently made it a 13-0 run on 3-pointers from Sam Hunt and Beverly.
With NC State leading 66-62, Markell Johnson drove for a basket to extend the lead before a Louisville turnover. Johnson then made two free throws at the 1:33 mark.
NC State used an altered starting lineup on Senior Night, with Johnson, a sophomore, joining four seniors in the first unit. That meant reserves accounted for 18 of the team's first 20 points.
Freeman's 3-pointer broke a tie as the Wolfpack ended up with a 33-32 halftime lead.
Louisville shot 50 percent from the field in the first half but committed 11 turnovers. The Cardinals tried to push the ball inside, going only 1-for-5 from long range before the break.
Overall, the Cardinals shot 44.6 percent from the floor to NC State's 44.1 percent.
The game pitted first-year NC State coach Kevin Keatts against a school where he once served as an assistant coach under now-fired Rick Pitino.
--Field Level Media
Louisville | NC State | |
Deng Adel 20 | Scoring | Allerik Freeman 16 |
Quentin Snider 6 | Assists | Allerik Freeman 6 |
Deng Adel 7 | Rebounds | Torin Dorn 8 |
Deng Adel 5 | Free Throws Made | Allerik Freeman 9 |
Anas Mahmoud 2 | Steals | Omer Yurtseven 3 |
Anas Mahmoud 5 | Blocks | Omer Yurtseven 5 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Louisville | 69 | 44.6 | 5-18 | 14-15 | 12 | 34 | 5 | 3 | 15 |
NC State | 76 | 44.1 | 8-19 | 16-26 | 12 | 27 | 6 | 9 | 4 |