Florida State basketball: Takeaways from fourth-straight win vs. Louisville
Florida State basketball won the last three head-to-head matchups against the Louisville Cardinals prior to this game. The Cardinals fell out of the AP Top 25 this week and got salt poured in that wound with this loss.
The Seminoles quite frankly should be ranked, and it’s ridiculous that they’re not.
This game started with dribble-drive slams for both teams, and then the flood gates opened up for the Seminoles from the perimeter.
They finished 8-of-15 from out there, led by RayQuan Evans, who had nine points on 3-of-4 from behind the line and secured three rebounds.
David Johnson led the Cardinals with nine points and seven rebounds.
The Cardinals finished the first half on a 12-2 run to cut their halftime deficit to 42-28.
Florida State basketball was able to capitalize on the Cardinals’ failed attempts to use their pack-line defense.
On the defensive end, the Seminoles were blocking shots inside and stealing the ball. They had five blocks, five steals, and nine points off turnovers. They outscored the Cardinals in bench points 16-2.
In the second half, the Cardinals found themselves back in this game. They were down by 10, 59-49, for a short time before the Seminoles went on an 8-0 to extend their lead to 65-49 under nine minutes to go in the game.
A guy who played hard in this game was Balsa Koprivica, who had six points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks under eight minutes left. Seminoles Head Coach Leonard Hamilton said that he was learning how to be tough this season, and he proved that today with his versatile performance.
Raiquan Gray had himself a night as he finished with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds.
The Seminoles handled their business on the road to beat the Louisville Cardinals 78-65. They weren’t in the AP Top 25 this week, but they will be next week. They are a threat to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.
Florida State basketball was on fire from three in the first half
The first half set the tone for what the Seminoles were able to do in this game. When the three is falling the way it did for them, you keep shooting. They took advantage of the porous defense by the Cardinals.
Another thing that high three-point percentage showed was the Seminoles’ ability to share the basketball and convert on their assists. They out-assisted the Cardinals 11-3 in the first half.
In the second half, however, the basket had a lid on it from the perimeter. The Seminoles were 1-of-6 and finished the game shooting 43 percent, which isn’t bad.
The Seminoles defense asserted itself
The Seminoles ensured that the Cardinals felt them every possession, whether it was pressure inside the paint or a closeout. Both teams had 34 points in the paint and 35 rebounds.
The Seminoles were just the better team defensively because they have depth and size at key positions. This is precisely the reason why they are dangerous come tournament time.
Louisville’s playmaking trio couldn’t get it done
Carlik Jones led the Cardinals with 17 points, assists, and two steals. Johnson finished the game with 15 points and eight rebounds, and Jae’Lyn Withers scored 14 points and secured a team-high nine rebounds.
They did an excellent job of getting the basketball inside for scores, particularly in the second half. Again, Florida State was too good offensively, and the Cardinals could keep up.
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Florida State basketball is now third in the ACC with this win. They are a game out of first place in the conference, behind the Virginia Tech Hokies and Virginia Cavaliers. The Seminoles will play the Clemson Tigers at home Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on ABC. Louisville stays home to play Duke Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.