Three things we learned about Louisville basketball vs. NC State

Ryan McMahon is still very much an important part of Louisville’s success

It can be pretty easy to forget about just how important Ryan McMahon can be to the Louisville basketball team with the emergence of freshman David Johnson and the strong play from Darius Perry. But against North Carolina State the Cards rode the hot hand of McMahon, who reminded Louisville fans and everyone across the country just how dangerous he can be.

The start for Louisville against North Carolina State was nothing short of awe-inspiring. The Cards fumbled their way through the half with turnovers galore while putting the Wolfpack in positions to go to the free-throw stripe time and time again. Louisville was lucky the score didn’t get away from them at a higher clip than what it did Saturday.

With Darius Perry picking up two quick fouls and Fresh Kimble needing a break, Mack without hesitation turned to his redshirt senior sharp-shooter and the rest was history. It wasn’t like coming into this game that McMahon had been riding a hot shooting streak or anything. In Louisville’s last five games (all wins, of course) McMahon has shot just 35 percent from three on 5/14 shooting and has really struggled to find any other way to impact the game. In fact, McMahon’s minutes have been sacrificed in large part to get freshman sensation David Johnson on the floor.

Against NC State all of that didn’t matter as McMahon showed he needed the opportunity to be able to flip an ACC game in a matter of a few shots. With just under seven minutes to play in what had been a pretty lethargic first half, McMahon got going by hitting four threes in a row, pushing the lead to 10 points, taking the NC State crowd out of its element in the process.

The Wolfpack would do their best to battle back but the damage had already been done as Ryan McMahon had pushed the Cards to a comfortable spot where it began to be easier to deal with what makes NC State a good team.

After the game, McMahon told the media:

"“I just blocked anybody who had anything negative to say about me. Any time I see anything negative towards me on Twitter, I don’t need negative energy in my life, I block it out. I want to focus on the people that want to talk about the positive things about our team or at least constructive criticism. So I see it but it’s in one ear and out the other. They’re out of my life once I block them.”"

Even with all the criticism, you hear about Ryan from his lack of defense or his frustrating turnovers, McMahon still has the ability to do something for Louisville that no only Jordan Nwora can do. Change the game in a blink of an eye with shooting.

With roughly two months remaining in the season, my guess is this won’t be the last time we see Ryan McMahon shoot the lights out. Get ready folks, I can sense a big-time “Ryan” game coming on Louisville’s run to the title.