By Russ Brown
Special to NKyTribune
LOUISVILLE–In addition to an important road victory, the University of Louisville basketball players had something else to feel good about following their 77-72 escape Thursday night against NC State in Raleigh, N.C.
The emergence of Quentin Snider from his recent scoring funk.
In his previous two games, against Kentucky and Wake Forest, the sophomore point guard had hit a mere 2-of-13 field goal attempts while scoring only eight points.
But in a new role as a reserve after 12 consecutive starts, Snider scored a career-high 21 points in 32 minutes, hit 4-of-6 3-pointers and 7-of-11 shots overall. His previous career best was 16 points twice last season, and his four treys were also his most — he had hit three on three occasions, the last time against Western Kentucky on Dec. 19.
Snider joked that he was copying teammate Damion Lee, UofL’s leading scorer on the season.
“I started to feel pretty good,” Snider told reporters afterwards. “I made a few in a row, and I felt like Damion shooting those threes. That gives my confidence a boost.”
Snider was the main cog in a Louisville bench that outscored NC State’s subs by a whopping 37-5 as the No. 16 Cardinals improved to 2-0 in the ACC and 13-2 overall heading into Sunday’s game at Clemson. The Wolfpack fell to 10-5 and 0-2.
The other notable bench performer was freshman forward Ray Spalding, who had 12 points in 19 minutes.
“Well, that’s what makes us a pretty good basketball team, and we’re going to get better,” UofL coach Rick Pitino said of the Cards’ depth. “Like Quentin came off the bench and played great. Q was brilliant tonight. I thought Ray did some good things offensively. He’s struggling on defense with what we’re trying to do, but that’s to be expected.”
Snider’s and Spalding’s scoring offset sub-par nights by Lee and Trey Lewis. Lee avoided his first single-digit scoring game of the season with a layup and his two free throws in the final minute to finish with 13 points. Lewis, who played only 19 minutes due to early foul trouble, missed all four of his shots and managed just four points, his season low and 10 below his average.
“It’s frustrating,” Lewis said. “But it happens, and when it does, guys have to step up, and the exciting thing about tonight is that guyds did. Q carried us.”
They say shooting covers a multitude of sins and UofL’s deadeye shooting rescued it on a night when the Cards’ defense and rebounding was shaky in spots and the visitors blew most of a 16-point lead in the final 3 1/2 minutes.
UofL, which is sixth nationally in field goal percentage at 50.8, shot 58 percent in the second half (15-26) and 51 percent for the game, including 7-of-13 3-pointers.
“We’ve been a very good offensive team all season because we’re willing passers and have good spacing,” Pitino said. “Last year we had a lot of trouble shooting the ball. We were a layup away from the Final Four. We didn’t shoot free throws well. We didn’t do a lot of things well offensively.
“But we were a great defensive team. This team right now is winning on offense. This was the first time all season I would say the first-half defense was pretty special, because we were going from zone to man and man to zone and it was working for us for the first time.”
NC State shot just 26.7 percent (8-30) in the first half, but the Pack heated up late and nearly pulled out a win. Trailing 71-55 with 3:38 remaining, the hosts hit three 3-pointers and converted two 3-point plays to close to within 75-72 with 16 seconds remaining. But after missing two free throws at that point, Lee made two following a Pack turnover to ice the victory.
“Look, we fell down a few times, miscommunicated, all learning experiences,” Pitino said. “But most of the time the home team is going to come back, especially when you’re as talented as NC State. So we’re overly pleased to come away with a one-point victory, three-point, five-point, didn’t matter. We’re young. We made a lot of mistakes. But we’re getting better.”
Cat Barber, the ACC’s leading scorer, topped NC State with 20 points, but he hit just 7-of-22 shots, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
“I’m proud of our guys; they obviously never quit,” NC State coach Mark Gottfried said. “They gave themselves a chance. We’re a team that’s not far off. Give Louisville credit, they made every big shot they had to make.”
UP NEXT
Louisville travels to Clemson on Sunday.