Coming off of brutal overtime loss to Kentucky, seventh-ranked Louisville basketball set to fully open up ACC play, as they host the 18th ranked Florida State Seminoles on Saturday afternoon.
Throughout the start of the college basketball season, Louisville basketball fans had little to complain about. The Cards were constantly touted as a national title contender, as well as being one of the favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both of those statements may remain true, but we’ve entered 2020 with a few concerns around the basketball team. The Cards had a rough loss to Kentucky, which was their last game of 2019. They haven’t played all that well in the past few weeks, and the losses to UK and Texas Tech raised some concerns for fans.
Non-conference play is finally over and Louisville will now fully transition into the grind that is the ACC schedule. Over the next two months, the Cards will play in 18 ACC battles against some great teams and some not-so-great teams. They’re already 2-0 in the conference, having beaten Miami on the road and Pittsburgh at home. On Saturday, they’ll play host to their toughest ACC opponent yet.
A hungry Florida State bunch will come into the KFC! Yum Center on Saturday afternoon, looking to capitalize on the recent struggles that Louisville has endured. The Seminoles are a top 20 team in the nation, and they’re projected to be one of the top five squads in the conference. Florida State comes in with a 12-2 record, including a 2-1 mark in ACC play. They’ve got a solid resume that can help show you just how talented they truly are.
They opened the season in a rough state, losing the season-opening ACC game by two on the road to Pittsburgh. FSU responded by going on the road and beating a-then top ten Florida team by 12. They took care of business in their next four games against overmatched opponents before sweeping the Emerald Coast Classic, beating Tennessee and Purdue by three points each. Following that impressive performance, they entered the AP Poll for the first time in the season. They followed it up with an ugly 16-point road loss to Indiana. Since then, the Seminoles have won five in a row.
They just recently defeated Georgia Tech 70-58 at home on New Year’s Eve. Florida State has a few players who Louisville fans might recognize from past seasons, like Trent Forrest, Devin Vassell, and M.J. Walker. These three players have paced the Seminoles in scoring thus far this season. They have two really good freshmen in Patrick Williams and Balsa Koprivica, the former of which is averaging 9.3 points off the bench so far this year. Alongside these guys, FSU has a bunch of guys who can put together quality performances and the Cards should not be taking them lightly.
Although they aren’t as experienced as in year’s past, head coach Leonard Hamilton has put together a team that can once again make it deep in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles have an average roster experience of 1.4 years, and they only returned 43 percent of the minutes played and 36.4 percent of the scoring from last year’s Sweet 16 team. Hamilton is one of the more underrated coaches in college hoops, so their early-season development doesn’t really surprise me.
According to KenPom, Florida State is the 20th best team in the nation, which definitely indicates that this team is capable of matching the Cards on paper and on the court. Pomeroy ranks them as the 38th best team in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency, as well as being the 16th best in terms of adjusted defensive efficiency. It’s fair to say that this FSU team makes their money on the defensive end of the floor. Compared to Louisville, Florida State plays at a much faster tempo, as Pomeroy ranks the Seminoles 136th in adjusted tempo while having the Cards at 300th.
Despite falling a few spots in the AP Poll, Louisville only dropped one spot in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings after losing to Kentucky. Chris Mack’s team is ranked as the fourth-best team in the nation by the basketball guru. Pomeroy ranks them as the 12th-best team in adjusted offensive efficiency and they have the fifth-best adjusted defensive efficiency in the nation. Mack has likely put his team through a rigorous week of practice, and hopefully, that translates to the Cards having a nice bounceback game that results in another top 25 win being added to the resume. With that in mind, let’s take a look at everything you need to know ahead of the game.
Who: No. 7 Louisville Cardinals vs. No. 18 Florida State Seminoles
Where: KFC! Yum Center (Louisville, Kentucky)
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 4th.
Tickets: As low as $23 per StubHub.com.
Previous Meeting and Series: Florida State defeated Louisville 80-75 in the last meeting between the two ACC foes on February 9th, 2019. Since joining the ACC in 2014, Louisville owns a 4-3 record against Florida State.
How To Watch: ESPN2.
How To Listen: WHAS 840 AM.
Projected Starters:
Louisville:
G, Darius Perry, #2, Jr.
6-2, 195 Pounds
5.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists
G, Ryan McMahon, #30, Sr.
6-0, 180 Pounds
9.4 points, 1.2 rebounds, 2.4 assists
F, Jordan Nwora, #33, Jr.
6-7, 225 Pounds
20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists
F, Dwayne Sutton, #24, Sr.
6-5, 215 Pounds
9.4 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists
C, Steven Enoch, #23, Sr.
6-10, 260 Pounds
11.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 0.4 assists
Florida State:
G, Trent Forrest, #3, Sr.
6-4, 210 Pounds
11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists
G, Devin Vassell, #24, So.
6-6, 180 Pounds
11.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists
G, M.J. Walker, #23, Jr.
6-5, 213 Pounds
10.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists
F, Raiquan Gray, #1, So.
6-8, 260 Pounds
6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists
F, Malik Osborne, #10, So.
6-9, 215 Pounds
6.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists