Men's Basketball Plays Florida State in First of Three Straight at Home

Game Information
Site: KFC Yum! Center/Crum Court, Louisville, Ky. (22,090) (168-26 in 11th year)
Television: ESPN - Sean McDonough, play-by-play; Jimmy Dykes, analyst.
Radio: WKRD (790 AM; joined by WHAS 840 AM at 7 p.m.) Paul Rogers,play-by-play; Bob Valvano, analyst (XM 84, Sirius 84, Internet 84)
Series History: UofL leads 34-14 (19-4 in Louisville, 11-9 in Tallahassee, 4-1 neutral)
Last Meeting: Florida State 82, UofL 67 (Feb. 24, 2020 at Tallahassee, Fla.)
UofL National Ranking: 16th USA Today, 18th Associated Press (Jan. 11 polls)
Next UofL Game: Jan. 23 vs. Duke, KFC Yum! Center, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Louisville (9-2, 4-1 ACC) will play its third game in six days and its first of three straight at home in the KFC Yum! Center as the Cardinals face the Florida State Seminoles on ESPN's Big Monday.

Louisville lost for the first time in five games on Saturday as the Cardinals fell 78-72 at Miami, UofL's fourth ACC road game in its first five conference contests. After connecting on 21-of-49 three-pointers (.429) in its previous three games, the Cardinals made just 3-of-20 threes at Miami (.150). UofL allowed the Hurricanes to shoot 49.2 percent from the field, the second-highest for a Cardinal opponent this season.

Louisville has started with at least a 9-2 record through 11 games for the 10th time in the last 11 years. The Cardinals have opened with a 4-1 ACC record for the fourth time in its seven years in the conference. Louisville and Virginia are the only ACC teams with three road wins this season.

After three game postponements due to COVID-19 issues and a break from Dec. 29-Jan.13 between games, Florida State (7-2, 3-1 ACC) has beaten NC State 105-73 on Jan. 13 and North Carolina 82-75 on Jan. 16 -- its 20th straight ACC home victory -- since returning.

The nation's fourth-tallest team and picked to finish third in the ACC in a preseason media poll, the Seminoles lead the ACC and are 17th in the nation in blocked shots (5.0 bpg). Sophomore guard M.J. Walker, who scored 23 against the Cardinals in Louisville last season, is Florida State's top scorer (16.3 ppg) and has made a team-high 21 three-pointers in 46 attempts (.457). FSU Coach Leonard Hamilton is on the 2021 ballot for the Nasmith Hall of Fame Class. Florida State is No. 16 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 43 in ESPN's College Basketball Power Index (BPI), No. 40 in the NET rankings and No. 23 by Ken Pomeroy through Jan. 16.

Louisville has a 34-14 series advantage against Florida State. Florida State won the two matchups last season, beating the Cardinals 78-65 in Louisville (UofL's only home loss in a 17-1 2019-20) as Jordan Nwora scored 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his 12th career double-double with the Cardinals (1-4-20); and FSU winning 82-67 in Tallahassee as Ryan McMahon led UofL with 14 points off the bench (2-24-20). The teams were fellow members of the Metro Conference from 1976-91.

Carlik Jones is the only player in the ACC to rank among the top 20 in scoring (18.0 ppg, 4th in the ACC), rebounding (6.2 rpg/17th) and assists (4.9 apg/3rd). Jones has 93 career double-figure scoring efforts, including the last 33 consecutive games (all 10 this year). His season-high 25 points at Miami with seven assist and three steals marked the 29th game of his collegiate career with 20 or more points (three in the last five games). He has collected nine steals in the last three games (three each game).

Jae'Lyn Withers has produced double-doubles in two of his last three games, including 18 points and 11 rebounds at Miami (8-of-9 field goals). He is the Cardinals' rebounding leader and ranks second among ACC freshman (7.2 rpg, 10th in the ACC), averaging 10.2 points while shooting a team-best 61.6 percent from the field.

Notes

Louisville has a 58-16 record in its conference home games over the last nine years (.784). UofL has the fourth-most conference home wins in its seven years in the ACC with a 43-13 ACC home record (9-1 last season).
Louisville has held six opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field this year, but allowed Miami to shoot 49.2 percent in its last game. The Cardinals are second in the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.398) and 50th nationally in scoring defense (64.4 ppg).
Louisville committed a season-low seven turnovers at Miami. The Cardinals' 12.4 turnovers per game is the fifth-fewest in the ACC.
Miami outrebounded the Cardinals 38-30, the first time UofL had lost the rebounding battle in ACC play this season. The Cardinals had six straight ACC rebounding advantages dating back to last season before that. Louisville's +5.6 rebounding margin is third-highest in the ACC.
Louisville has played four of its first five conference games on the road for the first time since 1994-95 in a season which the Cardinals finished tied for second in the Metro Conference.
Dre Davis has scored in double figures in the last two games, averaging 13.0 ppg in those two.
Carlik Jones needs two free throws for 400 in his career (41 at UofL, 357 at Radford).
Carlik Jones' 37.2 minutes ranks 18th in the nation. He has played a full 40 minutes twice this season and six games of 38 or more minutes.
Louisville is No. 11 in the RPI, No. 24 in the Sagarin Ratings, No. 30 by KenPom, No. 35 in the NCAA NET and No. 47 in ESPN's College BPI through Jan. 16.

Men's Basketball Plays Florida State in First of Three Straight at Home

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Players Mentioned

Dre Davis

Carlik Jones

Ryan McMahon

Jordan Nwora

Jae'Lyn Withers

University of Louisville Athletics