North Carolina State Wolfpack vs Louisville Cardinals Prediction, 2/9/2026 College Basketball Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: NC State Wolfpack vs Louisville Cardinals

Date: Monday, February 9, 2026

Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, KY

TV: ESPN

KFC Yum! Center is where the Louisville Cardinals (16-6) will take on the NC State Wolfpack (17-6) on Monday.

The NC State Wolfpack stepped onto the hardwood against SMU and took home the win by a score of 84-83 in their last contest. When discussing fouls, the Wolfpack finished with 13 and SMU accumulated 14 fouls. They knocked down 12 of 22 attempts from downtown. SMU finished shooting 58.3% when shooting free throws by making 7 of 12 tries. On top of that, SMU snagged 36 rebounds (11 offensive, 25 defensive), but didn't notch a block. SMU doled out 17 dimes and had 2 steals in this game. When discussing defending, North Carolina State let their opponent shoot 47.8% from the floor on 32 of 67 shooting. They also recorded 19 assists in this contest as well as forcing the other team into 8 turnovers and earning 6 steals. In reference to pulling down boards, they compiled 30 with 6 of them being of the offensive variety. When they shot from the free throw line, the Wolfpack made 12 of their 20 attempts for a percentage of 60.0%. North Carolina State walked away from the contest with a 45.9% field goal percentage (28 of 61) and knocked down 16 of their 36 shots from downtown.

Darrion Williams is a player who played a role in this matchup. He ended up walking away with 25 points on 8 out of 18 shooting. He played 34 minutes and also collected 3 rebounds. He finished the contest at 44.4% from the floor but had no assists at the end of the game.

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North Carolina State will enter this contest with a win-loss mark of 17-6 on the campaign. They are averaging 85.8 pts per game (25th in college hoops) while hitting 48.0% from the field. The Wolfpack are connecting on 40.1% on 3-pointers (254 of 633) and 75.9% from the charity stripe. As a unit, North Carolina State is grabbing 35.9 boards per contest and is sitting with 389 dimes so far this season, which has them ranked 43rd in the nation in terms of passing the ball. They lose possession via turnover 9.6 times per game and as a team they are committing 18.7 fouls every game.

When they are on the defensive end, the Wolfpack are forcing 13.7 turnovers every game and they draw 17.2 fouls. They concede 34.2% on shots from distance and they are 148th in the nation in points per game allowed (72.4). The Wolfpack defense is allowing a shooting percentage of 42.9% (562 of 1,310) and they surrender 34.7 rebounds per contest as a group. They currently rank 74th in the country in giving up assists to their opponents with 277 surrendered for the campaign.

The last time they took the court, the Louisville Cardinals walked away with a victory by a final of 76-65 against Notre Dame. Regarding how they cleaned up the glass, Louisville permitted Notre Dame to grab 33 in total (10 on the offensive glass). They finished 40.7% from downtown by going 11 of 27 and finished the contest at 6 out of 14 from the charity stripe (42.9%). The Cardinals permitted Notre Dame to make 24 of 62 attempts from the floor which gave them a shooting percentage of 38.7% for this contest. At the conclusion of this game, the Cardinals walked away from this one shooting 28 for 65 from the field which gave them a rate of 43.1%. With regard to shooting from beyond the arc, Louisville buried 7 of 31 attempts (22.6%). They were able to convert 13 of them for a rate of 72.2%. Notre Dame was called for 17 fouls for this contest which took the Cardinals to the charity stripe for 18 tries. They gave up possession 12 times, while getting 6 steals for this game. The Cardinals earned 29 defensive boards and 15 offensive boards for a total of 44 for this game.

Isaac McKneely ended up having an impact for the Cardinals for the contest. He earned 13 points in his 27 minutes of playing time, but went home with no dimes. He converted 4 of 8 in this game for a field goal percentage of 50.0%, and earned 2 rebounds.

Louisville has a mark of 16-6 on the campaign. The Cardinals commit 18.8 personal fouls per game and they hit 76.4% from the charity stripe. They are earning an assist 17.7 times per game (27th in the country) and they are turning it over 11.5 times per game. Louisville has scored 1,884 points for the season (85.6 per game) and they collect 40.6 boards per game. As an offensive team, the Cardinals are hitting on 46.2% from the floor, which is 128th in the country.

The Louisville defense concedes 33.8% from downtown (183 of 541) and opponents are converting on 69.7% of their foul shots. They surrender 11.6 assists and 34.2 boards per contest, which is 50th and 170th in Division 1. The Cardinals on the defensive side of the court are 82nd in college in PPG given up with 70.2. They have forced 12.7 TO's every game and allow teams to shoot 40.3% from the field (33rd in college hoops).

Who will win tonight's NCAA game against the spread?

Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Louisville

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