Skip to main content
Louisville HC Kenny Payne Previews Florida State (12/09/22)

Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Florida State Seminoles

The winless Cardinals take on the slumping Seminoles in their first road ACC game of the season.

Louisville Cardinals (0-8, 0-0 ACC) at Florida State Seminoles (1-9, 0-0 ACC)

- Tipoff: Sunday, December 10 at 1:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Fla
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Florida State -10.5
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 34-16
- Last Meeting: Florida State won 79-70 on Jan. 8, 2022 (Donald L. Tucker Civic Center - Tallahassee, Fla.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

  • G El Ellis (6-3, 180, Sr.)
  • G/F Mike James (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
  • F Jae'Lyn Withers (6-9, 220, R-Jr.)
  • F Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 250, So.)
  • F Sydney Curry (6-8, 270, Sr.)

Florida State

  • G Caleb Mills (6-5, 188, R-Jr.)
  • G Darin Green (6-5, 195, Jr.)
  • G Matthew Cleveland (6-7, 200, So.)
  • F Cameron Corhen (6-10, 225, Sr.)
  • C Naheem McLeod (7-4, 255, So.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Seminoles, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Florida State

Game Notes

Louisville

  • This is the first true road game of the season for the Cardinals, who’ve played five home games and three games in Maui. Excluding the 2020-21 COVID-19 season, this is the latest Louisville has played its first true road game since 2014-15. Louisville has won its first conference road game in 12 of the last 15 seasons.
  • As of Thursday, the combined record of all Louisville opponents from the start of the season through the end of 2022 was 82-44. The Cardinals’ opponents over the last five games have a combined record of 38-8 with an average KenPom ranking of 36. Ten of Louisville’s 14 opponents before the end of 2022 currently have at least six wins.
  • Senior guard El Ellis has scored in double figures in six of eight games this year. As of Thursday, he was ranked eighth in the ACC in scoring at 15.6 points per game and 15th in assists per game at 3.4 per contest.
  • After scoring four total points and missing all six of his shots against Arkansas and Texas Tech, sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield averaged 11 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while making 11 of 27 total shots across the last three games against Cincinnati, Maryland and Miami.
  • Per Ken Pomeroy, Louisville is 340th in the country in Division I experience with an average of 0.88 years.
  • Turnovers have been a key factor for Louisville so far this season. The Cardinals rank 356th in the nation in turnover percentage (24.6%), per KenPom, as well as 352nd in non-steal turnover percentage (12.7%).
  • Last game: Louisville fell 80-53 to Miami, marking the first time in program history that they have lost back-to-back home games by at least 25 points.
  • KEY FIRST HALF RUNS: With the Cards leading 5-2 after a competitive opening segment, the Hurricanes went on a 15-2 run, starting at 17:35 and elapsing 2:59, bringing their lead to 17-7. The Hurricanes then went on a 18-5 run to close out the half, starting at 8:15 and spanned 7:41. The Hurricanes tallied 15 points off turnovers in the first half.
  • KEY SECOND HALF RUN: The Hurricanes had an early 16-2 run starting at 17:46 and elapsing 6:24 to increase their lead to 60-29. The Cardinals shot 13 of 14 from the free-throw line in the second half.
  • UofL shot 17 of 57 (29.8%) from the field, 3 of 20 (15.0%) from 3-point range, and 16 of 18 (88.9%) from the free-throw line. The Cardinals had their highest free-throw percentage of the season at .889. Louisville held its only lead for 1:29 in the first half with their largest lead being 3, while Miami’s led by as much as 32, leading for 37:18. 53 points scored marks the second lowest number of points scored this season.
  • Jae'Lyn Withers scored a team-high 12 points for the Cardinals, shooting 4 of 8 from the field and 2 of 4 from beyond-the-arc. The forward scored 10 of the teams first 18 points to start the first half.
  • Brandon Huntley-Hatfield tallied 10 points and eight rebounds, shooting 4 of 11 from the field in 32 minutes of action. The forward has now scored in double figures in four of the Cards eight games this season.
  • Kamari Lands registered nine points on 3 of 8 shooting from the field, 2 of 2 from the free-throw line, and made one three-point shot, marking the third of his career. The forward registered three steals, a new career-high in that category. Lands also tallied one assist.
  • Mike James scored nine points in the contest shooting 2 of 5 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line. The guard recorded six rebounds, setting a career high in that category. James’ five free throws set a new career high.

Florida State

  • The Seminoles have won each of their games against Louisville since gaining an 80-75 win in overtime in Tallahassee on February 9, 2019. The winning streak by the Seminoles includes three wins at home and two at Louisville with the most recent coming as a 79-70 win on January 8, 2022 in the Tucker Center.
  • Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland has been named to the Julius Erving Watch List as the nation’s top collegiate small forward by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. It marks the second consecutive season that Cleveland has been named to the initial watch list for the prestigious Julius Erving Award.
  • Cleveland earned his third career double double of 11 points and 10 rebounds against Virginia on Saturday. In the last three seasons five different Seminoles have earned 10 double doubles in ACC play.
  • Cleveland is averaging 16.0 points (48 total points) while shooting .487 from the field (19 of 39) and .900 from the free throw line (nine of 10) in the last three games. He scored 20 points against Purdue in the ACC / Big Ten Challenge on November 30, 17 against Nebraska in the final game of the ESPN Events Invitational on November 27 and totaled 11 in Florida State’s ACC opener against Virginia on December 3.
  • Florida State was a perfect nine of nine from the free throw line in its ACC opener against Virginia and enters Saturday’s game against Louisville having made 14 consecutive free throws as a team.
  • Led by Darin Green Jr., who is tied for the ACC lead with 26 made 3-point field goals through the first 10 games of the season, Florida State, has made at least six 3-point field goals in seven of their 10 games. The Seminoles have made 13 3-point goals in their last two games (6.3 3FGM/Game) and made their season-high of nine in their game against Troy on November 14.
  • Florida State has blocked 23 shots in its last five games (4.6 bpg) and enters Saturday’s game against Louisville ranked fourth in the ACC in blocked shots with 47 and a 4.7 blocked shots per game average.
  • Led by junior Caleb Mills, who ranks third in the ACC with a 1.9 steals per game averages, Florida State has earned 40 steals in its last five games (8.0 spg). The Seminoles have totaled in double figures in steals three times this season – with 11 coming against Siena and 10 each coming at UCF and against Stanford – and have earned at least six steals in seven of their first 10 games.
  • Florida State pulled down a season-high 16 offensive rebounds and a season-high tying 40 total rebounds in out-rebounding Virginia by a 40-38 margin on Saturday in Charlottesville. The Seminoles out-rebounded the Cavaliers by a 22-21 rebounding margin in taking a 22-21 scoring lead at the half and out-rebounded the Cavaliers by an 18-17 margin in the second half.
  • Sophomore Jalen Warley has seven steals in the last five games (1.4 spg), 11 steals in 10 games during the 2022-23 season (1.1 spg) and 48 steals in the first 41 games of his career (1.2 spg). He tied his career-high with three steals against Troy on November 14, 2022. Warley’s ACC career-high of three steals came at Boston College on February 21, 2022.

(Photo of Sydney Curry: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

You can follow Louisville Report for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram:

Facebook - @LouisvilleReport
Twitter - @UofLReport
Instagram - @louisville_report

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter

© 2024 ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ABG-SI LLC. - All Rights Reserved. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. All betting content is intended for an audience ages 21+. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators’ opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. Gambling content intended for 21+. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER.