Louisville Basketball: Ville’ns View – NC State

After a disappointing loss to Pittsburgh, Louisville basketball has responded with a 4 game winning streak in the ACC, looking as good as anybody in the country.

Your Louisville basketball Cardinals are now 5-1 in the conference play and tied for 1st in the ACC. With a win on Saturday against Pitt, Louisville can expect another jump in the rankings and will most likely be in the top 20 to finish out January.

Just like we all expected, right?

It can’t be overstated how good of a job Coach Mack is doing right now. The word around the country is that Louisville Basketball is back and all the credit in the world should go to this staff and these players for tuning out the noise and balling out.

We also had possibly the greatest student section theme of all time (this is a fact not an opinion) on Thursday.

It was Derby Night for the students, and it was pretty cool. Never thought I would see people wearing fascinators, pink bow-ties, or in the words of Jacob Lane “my dad’s oversized suit” in the Yum Center but it was a sight to behold for sure.

Hey now, it was not my dad’s sportcoat nor was it oversized. But nonetheless, this was funny.

All jokes aside, this was a really good win for the Cardinals that took a lot of grit and a full team effort. I’ve said this a few times this season, but this was another game that I’m not sure we would’ve won last season.

NC State was giving us everything, and absolutely refused to go away. They hit some insanely clutch shots and out rebounded Louisville. But we were able to make some huge stops and force turnovers in crucial moments.

I’m not sure anybody expected this from Christen Cunningham when he became Chris Mack’s first commit, but he has been absolutely awesome. Whether it’s been his passing, his scoring, or his great leadership, CC has arguably been the MVP of this team.

We also saw a great scoring game from our frontcourt. Malik Williams had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks with a pair of 3-pointers. While Steve Enoch had 10 points and 4 rebounds with a pair 3-pointers as well. If those two can continue to knock down the 3 consistently, this team will be even more dangerous as we get closer to March.

While Nwora had an off shooting night, it was great to see so many guys pick it up and find a way to win. It’s been very encouraging to see such a balanced scoring attack from this team. They have shown that they can win games with almost anybody.

I’m proud to say that Thursday night was probably the loudest and rowdiest I’ve heard the Yum get in a while. It felt good to hear that place get as loud as we all know it can. I’m proud of the turnout from the students on Thursday night and happy with the enthusiasm. I really felt like we were an impact in that game and it seems like the players think so as well.

I know people have been talking about the crowds all year. They’ve been getting better and better,  last night was a big step. So if you haven’t made it out to the Yum yet this season, I highly encourage you to come back to the Yum.

This is a special season and a great group of guys. Coach Mack really does have something special going on, and Louisville Basketball is being revived right before our eyes. You’re gonna wish you were able to say that you were a part of that. Come be a part of it in the Yum with us. These guys deserve our support. We need the Yum filled again.

Same goes for Jeff Walz’s top-5 squad as well! They play Pitt on Sunday at 2 and have a big one against UConn next Thursdsay! Let’s fill the Yum.

We’ll see you all on Saturday at 2:00 pm when we get revenge against Pittsburgh. Go Cards.