Louisville Holds Off Florida State, Wins Fifth Straight Game

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Returning to action after a few extra days off, the Louisville men's basketball program picked up where they left off, holding off Florida State just long enough to secure an 89-81 win on Saturday at the KFC Yum! Center.

Not only do the Cardinals (21-6, 14-2 ACC) extend their winning streak to five, they pull off the regular season sweep against the Seminoles (16-11, 7-9 ACC) after previously taking them down 90-76 back on Dec. 21 in Tallahassee.

Also sweeping Virginia earlier this year, it's Louisville's first time sweeping multiple ACC opponents in the regular season season since their 2017-18 campaign, when they did it to Pitt and Virginia Tech.

For Louisville, it was far from their most efficient game. While they shot 50 percent, were just 7-of-21 on threes, and had more turnovers (13) than assists (10). On the other end of the floor, they allowed Florida State to shoot 54.2 percent for the game - their most by an opponent since Kentucky shot 58.2 percent from the field and their most this season in a win.

The primary difference in the game was the free throw line. Louisville shot an astounding 30-of-34 at the charity stripe, while FSU was 13-of-17. The Cardinals also had 17 points off turnovers to the Seminoles' seven.

Chucky Hepburn, normally a facilitator, led Louisville in scoring with 29 points. Going 17-of-19 at the free throw line, he also broke the single-game school record for made free throws.

Three other Cardinals also broke double figures in scoring. J'Vonne Hadley had an 18-point and 11-rebound double-double, Terrence Edwards Jr. added 16 points, and Reyne Smith finished with 11 points. FSU was led by 23 points from Jamir Watkins.

Louisville came out swinging right from the jump. Not only did they make a pair of threes in the first minute of the game, Florida State missed their first four shots, resulting in the Seminoles burning a timeout just 80 seconds into the contest.

The 'Noles tried to bounce back by mucking up the game on defense, but instead, it was the Cardinals who threw a wrench into their own game plan. In the first half alone, UofL forced 12 turnovers for 15 points off of them, while holding FSU to 12-of-26 from the field.

While Louisville had pockets in the first half where their offensive rhythm lulled, they still kept the composure. Despite turning it over eight times in this period, they still shot it 15-of-28 from the floor and 5-of-12 on three-point tries, leading by as much as 20 and taking a 45-31 advantage into halftime.

In the second half, momentum started to swing in the other direction. Louisville's offense ran into some bumps in the road, while Florida State's offense started to get into a rhythm.

Four Cardinals turnovers in the first four minutes helped trim their lead down to eight points, while an 0-for-5 cold stretch after a 6-of-8 shooting start to the period saw it dwindle to as little as six points with under nine minutes to go.

After being put on the ropes by the Seminoles, the Cardinals were able to dig deep and land a counter punch. They put together a 13-4 run, pushing their lead back up to 15 points with just over four minutes left.

FSU was able to briefly cobble together a 9-0 run to get back within six with 1:35 left, but UofL did just enough to hold off their visitors. While Louisville shot just 11-for-24 in the second half to Florida State's 20-for-33, 20 second half free throws proved to be the difference.

Next up, Louisville hits the road for the final time this season, heading to Blacksburg for a matchup with Virginia Tech. Tip-off against the Hokies is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

(Photo of Chucky Hepburn, Daquan Davis, J'Vonne Hadley: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)

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