N.C. State had some extra time off and extra confidence after a road win at Duke on Monday.
That didn’t matter at Louisville.
The Cardinals were hot from the 3-point line early and cranked up the defensive pressure all game long to blast the Wolfpack 85-60 on Sunday.
N.C. State (14-8, 3-6 ACC) couldn’t get freshman guard Dennis Smith Jr. going (season-low eight points) and had equal problems in cracking Louisville’s press and checking the Cardinals from the 3-point line.
The Cards (18-4, 6-3 ACC), coming off of a 55-point win at Pittsburgh on Tuesday, drained nine 3-pointers in the first half to jump out to leads of 28-13 and 43-28 by the half.