FSU Basketball Falls to 0-2 in ACC Play, Losing to Louisville 90-76

The Seminoles couldn't overcome a strong three-point shooting game from Louisville

Austin Veazey | 10 Hours Ago

Tallahassee, Florida - Florida State Seminoles guard/forward Jamir Watkins (1) handles the ball against the Louisville Cardinals (December 21, 2024) / Florida State Seminoles Athletics

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Florida State's last game before Christmas was their home conference opener against the Louisville Cardinals. Louisville is a talented but short-handed team, as they've dealt with a rash of injuries to start the season, and both teams entered Saturday looking for their first ACC win of the season.

The game started off all Louisville, rushing out to a 16-5 lead just six minutes into the game. FSU was sloppy on both ends, going up weak on offense and letting Louisville beat them down the floor on defense. But a 10-0 run by the Seminoles got them right back in it, capped off by an and-one by Alier Maluk.

Florida State couldn't get over the hump, though. Louisville would extend the lead to six or eight, and FSU would fight it down to three or five. After that 10-0 run by FSU that ended around the 11-minute mark, no team would score more than five points in a row for the rest of the half.

It wasn't until Jamir Watkins picked up a loose ball and slammed it on the other end to close the half that the lead got back down to two, as the Cardinals took a 36-34 lead into halftime.

Again, the Seminoles got the lead down to one twice in the opening minutes of the second half, but Louisville responded with a 14-4 run, including three made three-pointers, to get the lead right back to 11 points with 13:35 to go.

But Florida State refused to go away. An 8-0 run closed off by a Jamir Watkins and-one got the lead down to one possession again. Louisville kept responding with three-pointers to get the lead up to five or seven. They're a team that fires away from distance, and FSU kept losing track of Reyne Smith. Louisville was 13/25 from deep by the under-eight timeout, and their last six baskets had come from three, and they had a 68-58 lead.

But Jamir Watkins kept refusing to let FSU die, hitting three triples in the span of three minutes to bring the lead back down to six. Louisville would get the lead back up to 11 following a step-back three by Chucky Hepburn with about five minutes to go.

FSU would get the lead to eight a few times in the final few minutes, but it wouldn't be enough, as the Cardinals would go on to win 90-76.

Jamir Watkins had a big game, especially in the second half, finishing with 25 points on 9/15 shooting. Malique Ewin had a mostly efficient game with 17 points. No one else really stepped up for the Seminoles.

The biggest difference in this game was the three-point shooting, as Louisville was 15/29 from three. They came into the game shooting 28% from deep, and FSU was holding their opponents to less than 27%. But they kept losing track of shooters on the back side, and that gave Louisville all of the confidence they needed.

Reyne Smith lit up Florida State for 27 points behind 6/9 shooting from deep. Terrence Edwards Jr. (19 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds), Chucky Hepburn (16 points, 8 assists), and Noah Waterman (15 points, 4/7 3PT) also had strong games.

Florida State will have some time off before playing Syracuse at home on January 4th.

1. Failing Three-Point Defense

Louisville has been a team that fired away from three all season, but they hadn't been making them at all, and FSU entered the game with one of the best three-point defenses in the country. That didn't matter today, as Louisville lit up the nets from behind the arc, shooting 15/29 from deep. That was by far the biggest difference in this game, one that was winnable.

2. Not Enough Turnovers

Florida State's defense is predicated on forcing turnovers and getting out in transition. They forced just seven turnovers in this game, nowhere close to enough for what this team needs to do. FSU played well on offense, especially in the second half, but they couldn't overcome a poor defensive effort.

3. Layups

While Florida State played mostly well on offense, they were just 6/14 on layups in this game. That simply isn't good enough in the ACC, even in a down year for the conference. This is one of those stats that has to be above 70% consistently.

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