WASHINGTON — The 2023-24 Louisville men's basketball season, and the Kenny Payne era, are over.

They ended with a 94-85 loss to N.C. State on Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament at Capital One Arena.

U of L on Wednesday announced it was parting ways with the 57-year-old Mississippi native, who leaves his alma mater with a record of 12-52 across two seasons at the helm.

Payne compared his tenure to the Titanic during his postgame news conference. He also remained steadfast in believing he can "look in the mirror and say, 'I gave it everything I had to help this program.'"

His seat has been hot since the 2022-23 season went down as the worst in modern program history. The Cardinals (8-24) doubled their win total in 2023-24 but ended on an eight-game losing streak to post back-to-back 20-loss campaigns for the first time in their 110 years of existence.

Payne was asked after Tuesday's loss if he had been told anything about his future with the program. He said, "No, I have not."

Cardinals’ Director of Athletics Josh Heird did not attend the game. He was Indianapolis for a meeting of the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Committee.

When asked to make his case for a Year 3, Payne said, "It's unfortunate that we're talking about this right now." Then, he harped on talking points from Day 1 — specifically, that this was not, in his mind, a two-year rebuild.

"I needed everybody on the same page," he said. "We sort of forgot that. I talked about how I'm not going to let you blame me. I'm not standing up here by myself. I need all of Louisville with me. We sort of forgot that.

"I talked about (how) it's going to take time, and (how) I'm going to watch and see who jumped on and off the Titanic. We sort of forgot that."

The coach concluded by saying it was "unfair" to his players to face the "scrutiny" they did while trying and failing to turn things around.

"They deserve to play in a program where people are uplifting them to be better, not fighting and tearing them down to make them question how good they are. Then, you make my job impossible."

Advancing to Round 2 of the ACC Tournament, and delaying a changing of the guard that felt inevitable, was certainly possible. Because, with its back against the wall, Louisville turned in its best performance in more than a month.

It started 9 for 11 from the field, forced six turnovers and jumped to a 23-11 advantage during the opening 7:10. It led for longer during the first half (16:16) than it did during its final six games of the regular season (6:18). It finished with a 55.2% clip, made 10 of its 18 3-point attempts and got a historic postseason performance from sophomore guard Skyy Clark.

"We had nothing to lose," said Clark, who led all scorers with a career-high 36 points — the most by a Cards player during a conference tournament game since Russ Smith dropped 42 against Houston on March 14, 2014.

"We wanted to come out here and leave it all out there, no matter the result," Brandon Huntley-Hatfield added. "It couldn't get any worse than it already did all season."

State stormed back, however, to trail by just one at the break, 46-45. It needed only 14 seconds to gain control of the game after play resumed, opening the second half on a 10-4 run, and held it until only 4:50 remained in regulation.

That's when Clark led a 10-5 run to level the score at 75. The Wolfpack won out, 19-10; with 11 of those points coming at the free-throw line.

Coach Kevin Keatts' team attempted 40 shots at the charity stripe, making 33, to U of L's 11. That, and its 22 points off 16 Cards turnovers, were the difference-makers.

Besides Clark, Louisville had just two other players break double digits. They were Huntley-Hatfield (17) and sophomore Tre White (13). The other five who saw the court combined for 19 points on 8-for-19 shooting.

With Payne's tenure coming to an end, that likely means Tuesday was also the last time many of these players will suit up in a Louisville uniform. Their belief in the coach is one of the reasons athletics director Heird cited during an interview with WDRB News' Eric Crawford when making public his decision to stick with Payne heading into 2024.

Some turnover was to be expected if Payne got a Year 3 considering we're in the age of the NCAA transfer portal. A changing of the guard should only intensify that.

There was one sign of what's to come last weekend, when JJ Traynor went through senior night festivities at the KFC Yum! Center despite having at least one year of eligibility remaining.

“Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll make a decision,” he said.

It’s now decision time for everyone involved. Most in the Cards' locker room Tuesday night, however, said they hadn't thought that far ahead. But something Huntley-Hatfield said has to be on everyone's mind: "I just want to make sure I'm in the right situation to win."

Redshirt sophomore Mike James phrased it a different way when he said, "My main goal is just being happy again."

Now, we wait — and batten down the hatches for a coaching search that feels as if it's been underway since at least December.

Until then, here's how James and Huntley-Hatfield will remember Payne.

"No amount of thanks will be able to add up to how I feel about him," James said. "The hours upon hours that he poured into me in the gym 1-on-1 — most head coaches don't do that. I love him for that."

Added Huntley-Hatfield: "He means everything to me. He's like a second father to me. That's that."

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville basketball: Kenny Payne era ends at ACC Tournament