It seemed fitting that NC State was able to get big plays from either senior center D.J. Burns or senior combo guard D.J. Horne to put away Louisville on Saturday.
Horne finished with a game-high 27 points and went 6 of 9 from three-point land and Burns had 13 points and an impressive five assists in helping the Wolfpack win 89-83. NC State scored the first 12 points of the game and trailed for just 25 seconds in the contest.
NCSU improved to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in the ACC and host Wake Forest on Tuesday. Louisville fell to 6-10 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Horne came off the bench due to being late to a film session this past week, and exploded in the first half with four three-pointers and 14 points to help the Wolfpack build a 44-35 halftime lead. All the shots he missed Wednesday in the 67-54 loss vs. North Carolina — he went 2 of 16 in the game — he seemingly made against Louisville.
Burns was able to score in the post down the stretch, particularly when UL went small ball, but handled double-teams and made quality passes.
Louisville freshman Curtis Williams hit a three-pointer — he went 4 of 6 from beyond the arc for 15 points — to tie the game 58-58 with 9:54 left in the contest. NC State had lost an 11-point lead.
The Wolfpack responded with Burns and Horne going to work. Burns scored four points and dished to an open Michael O’Connell for a three-pointer, and Horne mixed in a three-pointer, and the Wolfpack got their bearings.
Horne and Burns combined to go on a mini 7-0 run, and NCSU built a comfortable 75–64 lead with 5:47 left.
The drama wasn’t completely over. Louisville made its last charge with a 11-0 run to cut it to 83-80 with 52 seconds left. However, Horne made a three-point play and added two free throws and drama was avoided.
NC State had an uncharacteristic 15-turnover performance, but some of that was due to the back-and-forth tempo of the game. NC State finished shooting 54.2 percent from the field, and the squad that went 2 of 20 against North Carolina from three-point land, bounced back to go 10 of 20 due to Horne’s quality shooting.
Senior wing Casey Morsell added 13 points and senior point guard Michael O’Connell, who got the start, added 11 points and six assists in 31 minutes.
NC State went back to playing 10 players, but sophomore forward M.J. Rice was limited to two first-half minutes, but junior Kam Woods played for the first time in two games.
Louisville shot 47.5 percent from the field and went 8 of 15 on three-pointers was led by sophomore wing Michael James scoring 20 points. Williams added 15 and former NC State recruiting target Ty-Laur Johnson, a freshman point guard, tied his career-high with 14 points and five assists.
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