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Louisville HC Kenny Payne Previews Florida State (2/3/23)

Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Florida State Seminoles

The Cardinals hope to build on their first ACC win of the season when they host the Seminoles.

Florida State Seminoles (7-16, 5-7 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (3-19, 1-10 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, February 4 at 2:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ESPN 2
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Florida State: -3.0 (KenPom)
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 34-17
- Last Meeting: Florida State won 75-53 on Dec. 10, 2022 (Donald L. Tucker Center - Tallahassee, Fla.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

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

Florida State

  • G Caleb Mills (6-5, 180, R-Jr.)
  • G Darin Green (6-5, 195, Jr.)
  • G Jalen Warley (6-6, 200, So.)
  • G Matthew Cleveland (6-7, 200, So.)
  • F Cameron Corhen (6-10, 225, Fr.)

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

  • Last game: Louisville was finally able to get in the win column in ACC play, taking down Georgia Tech 68-58 to snap a 10-game losing streak.
  • KEY FIRST HALF RUN: After falling into an 8-4 deficit, the Cardinals reeled off a 10-1 run keyed by two 3-pointers from Jae’Lyn Withers starting at the 14:15 mark to open up a five-point lead. The Cardinals held a slim advantage for the remainder of the half, largely due to Withers’ 14 first-half points.
  • KEY SECOND HALF RUN: The two teams traded baskets for most of the second half as Georgia Tech stayed within striking distance but could not reclaim the lead. The Cardinals hit six of their last eight field goal attempts from the floor to turn a 47-45 lead with 9:02 to go into a 68-58 win.
  • UofL shot 21 of 46 (.457) from the field, 7 of 19 (.368) from 3-point range, and 19 of 26 (.731) from the free-throw line.
  • The Cardinals grabbed 46 rebounds as a team, the most they have tallied in a game this season, while out-rebounding Georgia Tech by 14.
  • Georgia Tech shot 29.5% from the field and 25.9% from beyond the arc, both of which stand as the worst shooting percentages for a Louisville opponent this season.
  • The Cardinals held the lead for 32:50 of game time, never relinquishing it after taking an 11-8 lead with 12:08 remaining in the first half.
  • Jae'Lyn Withers finished with a season-high 19 points and tied a career-high with 13 rebounds while also notching two steals in 35 minutes of action. The forward shot 4 of 8 from the field, 4 of 6 from 3-point range, and 7 of 9 from the charity stripe, setting new career-best marks in 3-point field goals made, free throws made, and free throws attempted.
  • El Ellis finished with 11 points, marking the 19th time this season he has scored in double figures. The guard also dished out four assists and pulled down six rebounds, which tied a career high.
  • Kamari Lands poured in 11 points on 2 of 4 shooting from the field while nailing all six of his free throw attempts. He also tied a career-high with five rebounds. Lands’ 3-pointer with 43 seconds remaining as the shot clock expired gave the Cardinals a seven-point advantage that allowed them to put the game away.
  • J.J. Traynor scored in double figures for the third time this season, notching 10 points while also snaring four rebounds in 25 minutes of action
  • On Jan. 19, Louisville added freshman forward/center Emmanuel Okorafor to the roster. Okorafor is a 6-foot-9 native of Lagos, Nigeria, and is eligible immediately after arriving from NBA Academy Africa. He made his college debut Jan. 28 at Notre Dame with eight points, five rebounds and one block in 18 reserve minutes.
  • Over the last eight games since turning to 2023, redshirt freshman guard/forward Mike James is averaging 13.6 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field and 49% from the 3-point line. In the first 14 games of the year, James averaged just 6.9 points while shooting 44% overall and 31% from 3-point range.
  • Over the last 13 games, senior guard El Ellis has averaged 18.0 points, 5.6 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals. As of Thursday, Ellis was one of 24 players in the nation with at least 370 points and 100 assists this season. After having a positive or even assist-to-turnover ratio just three times in the first nine games of the season, Ellis has been positive or even in 11 of the last 13 games. In his last eight games since 2023 began, he has 46 assists against just 26 turnovers.
  • Redshirt junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers had one of the best games of his career Wednesday against Georgia Tech with 19 points and 13 rebounds on 4 of 6 3-point shooting. Over the last eight games, Withers is averaging 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 16 of 34 (47.1%) from beyond the arc.
  • Sophomore forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield missed the last five games with a foot injury. He leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game and is averaging 7.5 points per contest.

Florida State

  • Florida State has won a series‐record six consecutive games against Louisville, and in the first meeting of the season between the two teams, the Seminoles defeated the Cardinals, 73‐55, in Tallahassee on December 2, 2022.
  • All‐ACC candidate Matthew Cleveland scored 12 points against NC State on Wednesday, and enters Saturday’s game at Louisville having scored in double figures in a career‐best 16 consecutive games. He is averaging 15.3 points scored per game since totaling 17 points against Nebraska on November 27 in the final game of the 2022 ESPN Events Invitational.
  • Darin Green Jr. enters Saturday’s game at Louisville with 69 3‐point shots made in his first season as a Seminole. He needs just three made 3‐point field goals to move into Florida State’s single‐season top‐10. Three Seminoles are tied for eighth in Florida State history with 72 3‐point shots made in a single season.
  • Florida State has been one of the better road teams in the ACC in the last five seasons under Head Coach Leonard Hamilton and his staff. The Seminoles have won 20 of their last 42 ACC road games, with wins on 10 different ACC road courts.
  • Florida State enters Saturday’s game against Louisville having won an NCAA record 13 consecutive overtime games. The Seminoles defeated Duke, 79‐70, in overtime on January 18, 2022 in Tallahassee for its all‐time college basketball record 13th consecutive overtime victory.
  • Florida State is averaging 18.3 points from its bench players and outscored Pitt (17‐4), Miami (24‐12) and Clemson (22‐11) from the bench in three of its last four games. The Seminoles’ increased bench production marks seven times this season that their bench players had outscored their opponents’ bench players. Florida State’s bench players have outscored its opponents’ bench players 63‐27 and are shooting a combined .610 from the field (25 of 41) against Pittsburgh, Miami and Clemson.
  • Freshman Cam Corhen totaled a team‐leading 16 points and a team‐leading six rebounds on Wednesday night against NC State – it marked the first time in his career that he has led the Seminoles in scoring and rebounding in the same game.
  • Freshman Chandler Jackson has scored 33 points and is averaging 4.7 points scored per game in his last seven games. His scoring output includes eight points scored in Florida State’s win at Pittsburgh (January 21) and seven points scored against Clemson in Tallahassee (January 28). Jackson has more than tripled his scoring output since working his way into the Seminoles’ rotation after missing significant time because of a thumb injury suffered in September.
  • Sophomore Jalen Warley has already played more minutes (642‐596), is averaging nearly nine minutes played more per game (27.9‐19.2), scored more points (133‐144), pulled down more rebounds (63‐58), has more assists (83‐78) and has a better assist:turnover ratio in the first 23 games of his sophomore season, then he did as a freshman in 31 games.
  • Junior Caleb Mills, who surpassed the 100 career 3‐point shots made mark against Clemson on January 28 in Tallahassee, enters Saturday’s game against Louisville with 95 career steals and needs just five steals to each 100 for his career.
  • Mills enters Saturday’s game against Louisville as Florida State’s all‐time leader with a .846 career free throw shooting percentage in his two seasons as a Seminole.
  • A win against Louisville would be:
    • The second time since 2020 that Florida State has won the season series. These two team met just once each during the 2021 and 2022 seasons
    • The seventh consecutive win against the Cardinals. 
    • The fourth consecutive win on the road in Louisville against the Cardinals.
    • The eighth consecutive regular season win against the Cardinals

(Photo of Mike James: Melina Myers - USA TODAY Sports)

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