In a thrilling ACC basketball contest in Tallahassee, Florida State held on to defeat Louisville, 73-68, to move to 6-1 in the league.
The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Louisville Cardinals, 73-68, in a thrilling match-up between two ACC teams currently ranked in the top 15. The Seminoles are now 18-2 (6-1 in conference), while the Cardinals fell to 16-4 (4-3 in the league).
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Early on, this game looked like it might be over in a hurry. Behind a hot start led by Jonathan Isaac and Dwayne Bacon, Florida State got out to a quick 14-0 lead (yes, you read that right). They were obviously hitting shots offensively, but what was even more impressive was their defensive intensity. Going up against a Louisville squad that is known for their defensive tenacity, the Seminoles showed right from the tip that they came ready to play on both ends of the floor.
The Cardinals would eventually work their way back into the game behind a strong performance from Tony Hicks, who finished with 16 points. They only trailed by six at halftime, in what had to be viewed as a small victory by Rick Pitino’s team after their atrocious start.
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The second half opened with Florida State extending the lead back out to nine, but the Cardinals kept fighting back and would eventually cut the lead down to one with just over two minutes remaining. Unfortunately for Louisville fans, the Cardinals would not score again after that and eventually lost by five after Isaac and Bacon combined for four clutch free throws down the stretch.
After spending a lot of the early part of the season unranked, the Seminoles look to be more than deserving of their current top 10 ranking. They now boast an impressive list of signature victories over Louisville, Notre Dame, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Florida. All six of these teams were ranked when they were beaten by Florida State.
A lot of their success can be attributed to their balance on both ends of the floor — top 25 in offensive and defensive efficiency, according to KenPom — but the real story for the Seminoles has been the play of their dynamic duo that consists of Isaac and Bacon. The two underclassmen each chipped in 16 against Louisville, and are averaging a combined 30.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game on the season.
For Louisville, this loss is their first in five games, but it does still seem to place them firmly in the ACC’s second tier with a conference record of 4-3. While the Cardinals are far from panic mode, they continue to struggle because of their inefficiency offensively. They were able to hold a really solid Seminole offense to just 37 percent shooting, but they shot below 40 percent in their own right.
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The Cardinals are outside the top 200 in both effective field goal percentage and three-point percentage after their loss on Saturday. They need to find some sort of offensive consistency moving forward to have any shot at contending in the ACC.