Junior forward Montrezl Harrell may have been the focus of most preseason analysis when it came to Louisville, but since then, it has been the Cardinals’ guards making all the headlines. Coming into their Sweet 16 matchup with North Carolina State, that hasn’t changed a bit.
Both teams feature dynamic talents on the perimeter yet both teams have experienced inconsistency there. For UL, it has been about finding a more reliable replacement for dismissed point guard Chris Jones and getting Terry Rozier comfortable playing alongside freshman Quentin Snider.
Meanwhile, Mark Gottfried has simply been trying to get guard Trevor Lacey to avoid the proverbial valleys, like he was stuck in during the Wolfpack’s final ACC Tournament game and their first round matchup against LSU.
Rozier can be a bit of a volume shooter at times, but it’s necessary for a Louisville team that doesn’t have a second guy on the outside who can go get their own buckets. Snider did drop 16 points against UC-Irvine in the first round, but shouldn’t be relied upon to do the same thing moving forward. That has to be Rozier, and his efforts to do so will be helped along with every bit of progression made by Snider. Unlike Jones, Snider doesn’t mind deferring to his veteran teammates, and looks to be just the set-up man that Rick Pitino’s group needed.
On the other side, North Carolina State has been fortunate to have Cat Barber picking up the slack whenever Lacey might have an off night. When they’re both on, however, they’re as potent as any one-two punch left in the tournament. Four times this year, Lacey has followed a high scoring performance with a dud. That number can’t go up to five if NCSU wants a chance against Louisville.
