NC State exited the Louisville game with another defeat and some of the same questions that have been plaguing the Wolfpack of late.

NCSU usually is pretty good at scoring the basketball, but haven’t scored more than 65 points over its last five games. Louisville held NC State to 32.8 percent from the field to defeat the Wolfpack 77-57 in front of 18,197 fans at PNC Arena on Saturday.

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NC State fell to 14-8 overall and 5-6 in the ACC, with at Miami on Wednesday next. NCSU topped Miami 80-63 on Jan. 15, which was the last time the team scored more than 65 points.

No. 6-ranked Louisville showed why it’s 10-1 in the ACC by stifling the NC State offense down the stretch. NC State had a scoring drought over the last 5:46 of the game, and went 1 of its last 11 from the field. Louisville (19-3 overall) took advantage to go on a 14-2 run over the last 7:37.

NC State made its big run to cut the lead to 56-52 with 11:13 left in the game, courtesy of a Devon Daniels layup.

“I like my team’s fight,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said. “I thought in the second half, we fought extremely well.”

As the final score showed, the Wolfpack were outscored 21-5 the rest of the way. Louisville senior guard Lamarr Kimble hit a top of the key three-pointer to push the lead back out to double digits, 66-55, with 7:37 left and the Wolfpack never recovered.

Keatts thinks not having the ability to practice of late is why the team has been struggling to score.

“The frustrating thing for me is that the majority of my career, we score points in the 70s and 80s,” Keatts said. “I have to figure out how to get everybody playing well. I like our grit and I like how we fought.”

Louisville senior guard Ryan McMahon did what he does best to snap the Cardinals out of their doldrums in the first half. UL was doing two main things well — fouling the Wolfpack and turning the ball over. Then along came McMahon.

McMahon hit 6 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc in the first half — making all six Cardinals’ three-pointers — and his lone miss was right before the first half buzzer. He had 18 points to help Louisville lead NC State 41-26 at halftime.

McMahon had been shooting well over his last seven games, but nothing like Saturday’s first half. He had been 10 of 23 from beyond the arc during that stretch, and had reached double figures in seven contests.

Daniels said the frustration level is high right now after three straight losses.

“Offensively, our game isn’t going well and we aren’t shooting well from the field,” Daniels said. “We let Ryan McMahon do what he wanted to do. He’s a shooter, a catch and shooter. He really hurt us.”

McMahon’s previous best shooting performance this season was when he went 5 of 8 on three-pointers for 15 points in a 76-50 win over South Carolina-Upstate on Nov. 20. The hot shooting helped McMahon finish going 7 of 10 on three-pointers for a career-high 23 points. He’s 17 of 33 on three-pointers over his last eight games now.

“He had a tremendous night and he shot the heck out of the basketball,” Keatts said. “We knew coming into the game, he could make shots.”

The Cardinals needed McMahon’s outburst because star junior forward Jordan Nwora struggled for most of the game. He went 1 of 6 from the field for six points in the first half, and finished 3 of 13 for the game for 14 points.

“I thought we did a tremendous job on Nwora and on [Steven] Enoch,” Keatts said.

NC State has been struggling shooting the basketball of late, and Saturday was no different. The loudest cheer came when fifth-year senior wing C.J. Bryce snapped his two-game scoreless streak with a jumper with 7:43 left in the first half.

Bryce had last seen the ball go through the basket in a game with 31 seconds left, when he made a clutch jumper in the eventual 53-51 win over Virginia on Jan. 20.

NC State went 8 of 27 from the field in the first half for 29.6 percent, but just 1 of 9 on three-pointers, which proved troubling in light of McMahon’s hot hand.

Bryce snapped his three-point shooting drought, and made the Wolfpack’s second of the contest with 15:30 left, which cut Louisville’s lead to 46-37. A foul was also called on the play, giving NC State possession of the ball again. Bryce finished with a team-high 15 points in the loss.

“We finally got C.J. going a little bit,” Keatts said.

NC State finished the contest just 5 of 23 on three-pointers, which will have to change moving forward. Part of the problem for NC State’s outside shooting is that junior guard Braxton Beverly has been affected by a back injury. Keatts said he probably could 3-4 weeks of rest, but the Wolfpack don’t have that roster flexibility.

“He’s probably the toughest guy in the locker room,” Keatts said. “He doesn’t have a serious injury, but he’s banged up.”

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