Louisville’s season comes to a close, drops last game to NC State 94-85

The final game of Louisville’s 2023-2024 season has concluded with an ACC tournament loss against NC State and likely the final game under Kenny Payne, whose seat has been scorching hot for weeks now.

The Cardinals gave their best effort in this outing, especially Skyy Clark as he went ballistic for 36 points on 71% shooting, but it still wasn’t enough down the stretch of the game. Even after a great start, Louisville allowed the Wolfpack to hang around within striking distance and they closed the gap by the end of the first half.

That puts a bow on year two for Kenny Payne, finishing with an overall record of 12-52, 5-37 versus ACC opponents, and more 20+ point losses (14) than total wins. To say that Payne’s tenure at Louisville was horrendous would be an understatement. No one around the program had this in mind when he was given the task to revive this program and you could argue that he left in a worse position than before.

The odds of Payne returning for a third season are very slim at this point in time, but nothing has been made official just yet. Many people speculate that Louisville will go all in on Baylor’s Scott Drew, with a few other names in mind in case he stays in Waco. This week will be a huge one for the Cardinals’ Athletic Director Josh Heird, as he’ll likely be going on the coaching search once again. Be patient folks, change (most likely) is coming.

Louisville, led by Skyy Clark, came out scorching in this one. They jumped on the Wolfpack early and they were shooting the ball better than any other half they played all season. Clark was on a mission from the jump, starting off with a quick 12 points on five of five shooting. NC State took a while to get going on offense, as Louisville went up by double digits early, but as the first half went on, they were more and more comfortable. Soon as they settled in, the lead dwindled for the Cardinals and that 12 point lead was cut to one by halftime.

Louisville shot 67% from the field, 67% from behind the three-point line, and 100% from the free throw line, yet they only held a one point lead at the break. The defense played by this team was the primary reason why they finished this season with just eight wins, as it started off horrible and it ended off just as horrible, maybe worse. If they put an ounce of emphasis on that end of the floor, they could’ve won at least 3-4 more games on the year.

The Wolfpack started off the second half much better than the first, as they immediately took the lead from Louisville, which was inevitable with that defense. However, Louisville still had a good half on offense and Clark continued to cash in on good looks. The second half was a shootout by both teams, as neither one of them are known for defense. Louisville got in foul trouble early, which allowed the Wolfpack to play in the bonus for a good portion of the second half. The Cardinals fouled repeatedly from that point on and made it even harder to overcome the deficit they faced. Once NC State got a stable lead, Louisville came close, but couldn’t get the lead back from them. Clark left it all out there, even tying the game at 75 to give his team one last chance to extend their season, but even he ran out of gas down the stretch with a couple turnovers in the last few minutes that ended Louisville’s chances.

NC State ended this game with 40 total free throws compared to Louisville’s 11 and that became the deciding factor. Typically, the Cardinals would struggle to shoot from the field, but that wasn’t the case in this one. They had 23 fouls to the Wolfpack’s 12 and even when they didn’t give up any easy shots, they fouled and gave points up at the free throw line. The game was back and forth until the final three minutes, where NC State pulled away with free throws and a couple of late threes from their backcourt.

Louisville fought all the way until the final buzzer, knowing that this was the last time they’d share the court this season. Now, it’s time for the offseason and it could look much different across the board for this program by the time next season starts. Will there be a whole new coaching staff? Will there be major changes to the current roster? No one knows yet, but it will be determined within the next week, starting with Josh Heird issuing his statement on the future of Louisville’s basketball program.