Cardinals Travel to Florida State For a Second Consecutive Top 25 Road Game

GAME 24
Date: Feb. 9, 2019
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Site: Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Fla. (11,500)
Television: ESPN2 - Bob Wischusen, play-by-play; Dick Vitale, analyst; Allison Williams, reporter.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM) Paul Rogers, play-by-play; Jody Demling, analyst (Sirius channel 133, XM 193, Internet 955)
Series History: Louisville leads 34-11 (17-2 in Louisville, 13-8 in Tallahassee, 4-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: UofL 82, Florida State 74 (March 7, 2018 in Brooklyn, N.Y., ACC Tournament Second Round)
UL National Ranking: 16th Associated Press, 17th USA Today
Officials: Brian Dorsey, A.J. Desai, Jerry Heater
Next UofL Game: Feb. 12 vs. Duke, KFC Yum! Center, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Louisville, ranked 16th by AP and 17th in the USA Today poll, faces its third of four straight Top 25 foes as the Cardinals play their second consecutive game on the road at No. 22/24 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. on Saturday.

Louisville won for the seventh time in its last eight games as the Cardinals prevailed 72-64 at No. 10/11 Virginia Tech on Monday. Dwayne Sutton totaled 17 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Cardinals. Ryan McMahon added 17 points off the bench, including 12 points in 83 seconds during a second-half stretch.

The Cardinals (17-6, 8-2) are very balanced on the offensive end, with six players averaging over eight points. Sophomore Jordan Nwora leads the Cardinals in in scoring and rebounding with 17.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Dwayne Sutton ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points along with 7.0 rebounds per game. Christen Cunningham is third on the team in scoring with 10.2 points and leads the team with 102 assists on the year. Steven Enoch averages 9.3 points per game along with 5.1 rebounds per game while Malik Williams and Ryan McMahon are averaging eight points a game. Williams is also pulling down 5.3 rebounds a game.

No. 22/24 Florida State (17-5, 5-4) has won its last four games, including an 80-62 victory at Syracuse on Tuesday as Terance Mann scored 22 points for the Seminoles.

Florida State is 48th in the nation in free throw percentage (.743), 57th in rebound margin (+4.5) and 55th in steals per game (7.7). Six FSU players are averaging over seven points a game, led by reserve sophomore forward Mfiondu Kabengele (13.2 ppg). Florida State is No. 21 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 19 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI), No. 29 in the NET rankings and No. 21 by Ken Pomeroy through Feb. 5.

Louisville has a 34-11 series advantage over Florida State, winning four of the last six match-ups. The Cardinals won two of three meetings last season. UofL prevailed 73-69 at No. 23 Florida State (1-10-18), breaking a 28-game Seminoles home winning streak as UofL fought back from a 17-point deficit to win. The win was UofL's first road victory over a Top 25 opponent since 2014. FSU won 80-76 in the KFC Yum! Center (2-3-18) as Deng Adel led UofL with 19 points. Louisville won 82-74 in the ACC Tournament Second Round in Brooklyn, N.Y. (3-7-18) as Quentin Snider led the Cardinals with 19 points and six rebounds.

CARD FILES

With its victories at No. 11 Virginia Tech and at then-No. 12 North Carolina, Louisville is the only school in the nation with two AP Top 12 road wins this year.
Jordan Nwora is the second-most improved scorer in the nation with his 17.8 scoring average (fifth in the ACC) up 12.1 ppg from his 5.7 average last year. He has scored 20 or more points on 10 occasions this season. He had 15 points and eight rebounds at Virginia Tech.
In his last three games, Dwayne Sutton has averaged 17.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and shot 63 percent from the field (9-of-17 threes, .529). He has scored in double digits in 11 of the last 14 games, including a career-high 19 vs. North Carolina. He has double-doubles in four of the last nine games.
Louisville's 8-2 record in ACC games matches its best 10-game start in its five years in the ACC, tying the Cardinals' 8-2 start in 2015-16.
Christen Cunningham leads the ACC in assists in conference only games (6.4). He has handed out 49 assists with just 10 turnovers in his last seven games.
Louisville has allowed less than 55 points in three of its last six games. The Cardinals have limited an opponent to under 40 percent accuracy for a half on 20 occasions this season, including holding Virginia Tech to 37 percent in the first half of its last game. Louisville is 21^st in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency.
UofL has scored 80 or more points in 13 games (78.8 ppg) and the Cardinals are 14th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency by Kenpom. UofL is third in the ACC in scoring offense for conference games (79.1 ppg).

Cardinals Travel to Florida State For a Second Consecutive Top 25 Road Game

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Players Mentioned

Deng Adel

Christen Cunningham

Steven Enoch

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Quentin Snider

Dwayne Sutton

Malik Williams

University of Louisville Athletics