FSU wins at Louisville for first time since 1989
Florida State avenged a stinging loss to Louisville earlier in the year with an 80-76 victory Saturday against the Cardinals on their home floor.
It was the the Seminoles’ first win at Louisville since 1989.
The Cardinals trailed at halftime 39-38 but held a 55-52 lead with 10 minutes to play in the second half.
But the Seminoles went on 13-2 run after that and grabbed a 65-57 lead with seven minutes remaining in the game. They never trailed again.
Florida State (17-6, 6-5 ACC) was led by forward Phil Cofer with 16 points, followed by guard Braian Angola with 13 points.
Seminoles guard Terance Mann had 11 points, and he came up huge in the final seconds. After missing two free throws with 16 seconds left that would’ve all but sealed the win, he blocked a potential game-tying shot by Louisville forward V.J. King with four seconds remaining that ended the Cardinals’ last threat.
The win was especially big for the Seminoles in the ACC standings. While No. 2 Virginia has separated itself from the ACC pack -- the Cavaliers have a three-game lead at the top of the standings -- the Seminoles and Cardinals (16-7, 6-4) are both part of big logjam in the race for second. Going into Saturday’s slate of games, eight of the league’s 15 teams had between five and seven wins in the conference.
In their first meeting this season, Florida State led by 13 points at halftime only to lose 73-69 and see its 28-game home win streak snapped.
Louisville was led by 17 points and eight rebounds from forward Deng Adel. The Cardinals also got solid games from guard Quentin Snider (15 points) and forward Ray Spalding, who paced the team with nine boards in addition to his 13 points.
King rounded out the Cardinals’ double-figure scorers with 10 points and six rebounds.
In addition to Cofer, Angola and Mann, the Seminoles had three more players finish in double figures: center Christ Koumadje (11 points), guard CJ Walker (10 points) and guard Trent Forrest (10 points). Forrest also led the team with five assists and nine rebounds, and Koumadje recorded a team-high three blocks.
Florida State out-rebounded Louisville 43-34 in the win.
Florida State will get its shot to knock off the second-ranked Cavaliers when Virginia visits Wednesday. The Cardinals, who came into Saturday having just lost to Virginia, play their next game Monday when they host Syracuse.
Louisville, despite the loss, still leads the all-time series 33-11.
--Field Level Media