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Furious Louisville Comeback vs. Florida State Falls Short

The Cardinals trailed by as many as 15 points with nine minutes to go before tying the game in the final segment.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hosting Florida State in what was their first conference rematch of the season, the Louisville men's basketball program was nearly able to avenge their blowout loss to the Seminoles back in December, instead falling 81-78 Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.

Trailing by 15 with just over nine minutes to go, the Cardinals mounted a furious comeback attempt, firing off a 19-4 run to tie the game with 1:24 left in the game

The Noles countered with a layup and a pair of free throws, but Louisville still had a chance. After Sydney Curry made a layup to make it a two-point game, FSU's Jalen Warley was fouled with 14.3 seconds left, making the first free throw but missing the second.

Ellis missed a driving layup, but Curry was able to grab the ball in a scrum down in the paint and kick it out to Mike James at the top of the key. James shot a potential game-tying, buzzer beating three-pointer, but the shot clanked off the rim.

Falling to 3-20 overall for the season and 1-11 in ACC play, the loss ties Louisville's program record for most losses in a single season. The Cardinals went 12-20 during the 1997-98 season in what was then-head coach Denny Crum's fourth-to-last year at the helm.

The two teams ended the game with similar shooting splits, with Louisville going 46.8 percent from the field and 10-of-28 on threes, while Florida State shot 48.4 percent and 8-of-23 from beyond the arc.

Unsurprisingly, the main factor in the final outcome was turnovers. While Louisville "limited" their turnovers by committing only 11, most of them were live ball turnovers, resulting in 19 Florida State points off of them.

Ellis, Kamari Lands and Jae'Lyn Withers combined for 51 of of Louisville's 78 points. Ellis led the charge by scoring a game-high 22 points, Lands finished with a career-high tying 15 points and Withers tallied 14 points. All five of FSU's starters broke double figures.

Like so many other games this season, Louisville dug themselves into a bit of an early hole that set the tone early. Florida State went up 16-5 in the first five minutes of the game, and on a couple occasions, it looked like the Seminoles were on the verge of blowing the Cardinals out of the gym.

However, Louisville did just enough during this time to prevent the game from being a complete and total domination at halftime. Even with poor defensive rotations allowing the Noles to shoot 57.6 percent and at times stagnant offense resulting in 11 FSU points off six turnovers over the first half, the Cardinals were able to shoot 48.1 percent themselves, including seven of their final 11 shots and 7-of-16 from three to make 45-36 at the half.

In the first few minutes of the second half, it looked like a blowout was going to come to fruition, as Florida State scored the first eight points of the half to go up by as much as 17.

But Louisville wasn't going to go down without a fight. They were much more active on defense after halftime, holding Florida State to 37.9 percent shooting for the half while forcing seven Seminole turnovers. The Cardinals were also much more effective down low on both ends, out-scoring their visitors 26-16 in the paint during the second half as opposed to 26-10 in favor of FSU in the first half. 

Next up, Louisville will head back on the road for another rematch, this time against Pitt. Tip-off against the Panthers is set for Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Mike James, Chandler Jackson: Matt Stone - Louisville Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK)

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