Louisville can't hold lead, falls to Florida State
Louisville men’s basketball relinquished its spot atop the ACC standings, losing to Florida State 82-67 in Tallahassee Feb. 24. The Cardinals led by as many as 12 points, but Florida State went on a 15-0 run midway through the second half to take control of the game.
Louisville shot just 32.1% from the field in the second half, suffering a stretch of more than nine minutes without a field goal. Ryan McMahon scored a team-high 14 points while David Johnson added 13 points for Louisville.
Trent Forrest scored 16 points for a Florida State team that shot 55.6 percent from the field in the second half. M.J. Walker and Devin Vassell each added 12 points.
The Cardinals scored 12 of the game’s first 18 points before Florida State return its deficit to one possession.
McMahon made his second three-pointer on an assist from Darius Perry to extend Louisville’s lead to 24-17 with less than eight minutes left in the first half.
McMahon hit another three-pointer and Johnson followed on the next possession with a drive to give Louisville a 10-point lead with 2:45 left before halftime. Patrick Williams ended a 7-0 Louisville run with a jumper, but Jordan Nwora answered with a shot from behind the arc.
Anthony Polite had the final basket of the first half to bring Florida State within eight points. Eight different players from each team scored before halftime.
After Forrest made a transition jumper to bring Florida State within six points, Lamarr “Fresh” Kimble made a three-pointer three minutes into the second half.
Vassell made a shot from behind the arc and Williams hit a pair of free throws to pull Florida State within one point. The Seminoles took their first lead of the game with 9:21 left on two free throws by RayQuan Evans.
Williams had a transition dunk to cap a 15-0 run to extend Florida State’s lead to 62-55. McMahon ended Louisville’s scoring drought that lasted more than five minutes with three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt.
Louisville went more than nine minutes without a field goal as Florida State extended its advantage to nine points. Johnson made a pull-up jumper in the lane to end the scoring drought.
Florida State maintained its lead by seven or more points late in the second half. Walker extended Florida State’s advantage to double digits for the first time with a free throw with less than three minutes left.
