Cards' Comeback Effort Falls Short in Loss to Florida State

Saturday, February 4

LOUISVILLE, KY

2 p.m.

University of Louisville

3-20,1-11ACC

Florida State

8-16,6-7ACC

Florida St.

Louisville

Cards' Comeback Effort Falls Short in Loss to Florida State

February 04, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)VIDEO: Kenny Payne Press Conference VIDEO: Kamari Lands/El Ellis Press Conference

By: Zach Greenwell

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville men's basketball again battled back from a 17-point deficit in the second half Saturday to tie the game against Florida State in the final three minutes, but couldn't finish it out in an 81-78 home defeat.

The Cardinals (3-20, 1-11 ACC) trailed 53-36 with 17:47 left in the game and still by 15 with 9:12 to play, but surged back with a 17-2 run that ended on a lob dunk to junior forward JJ Traynor to tie it at 74-all with 2:09 on the clock.

Senior guard El Ellis again tied the game with a basket with 1:24 to go. Florida State (8-16, 6-7) got a bucket and two free throws, followed by a shot inside from UofL senior forward Sydney Curry.

The Seminoles split a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left to leave the door open for Louisville, but redshirt freshman guard/forward Mike James' 3-point try at the buzzer after a scramble was off the mark.

"I love our fight," UofL head coach Kenny Payne said. "I love what we did to get back into the game. I loved what they were saying in the huddle. I love how their eyes were captured on me when I was saying, 'guys, we are only down 11 and we aren't playing well.' Just keep fighting. Get three stops in a row and see what happens. Move the ball, don't hold it. Don't dribble it once and then go pass it. Move the ball and don't let it stick in your hands. … When we did it, we looked pretty good.

"We have gotten better as a team. I can see it and I can tell you we have. We have gotten better from Day 1 to today. I know it is hard to believe but I believe we have gotten 70% better. Now you can look at me and say 'how bad were we'? I will tell you that we were really, really bad. For us to be competitive from where we came from says a lot about what these young men have done. I know nobody wants to hear that. It is win or your life is over. We have gotten better."

Florida State had an early 11-1 run to take a 16-5 advantage at the 16:05 mark. The Cardinals were playing catch-up the rest of the way and trailed 45-36 at the break.

Louisville shot 46.8% from the field and made 10 3-pointers, but it was offset by a 19-5 advantage on points off turnovers and a 14-2 edge on the fast break for the Seminoles.

Cameron Corhen led five FSU players in double figures with 16 points.

Ellis paced the Cardinals with 22 points and seven assists, while freshman forward Kamari Lands tied his career high with 15 points.

"I think it's all about that we fought," Lands said. "In the first half we didn't come out, we came out flat and then in the second half we came out like we were supposed to come out in the first half. We fought, played hard, played great defense. I felt like especially in that end stretch everybody played great defense. We got good looks at the end and unfortunately it didn't go our way completely, but I felt like we fought all the way to the end. "

Redshirt junior forward Jae'Lyn Withers made 4 of 6 3-pointers for the second straight game to spark his 14 points.

The Cardinals are back on the road next week at Pitt at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday. The game will air on ACC Network.

"Really, I just feel like we're just a different team from before," Ellis said. "I feel like every time the locker room has grown up and has gotten a lot better individually and got better as a group. Kamari was really big today, Jae'Lyn is playing really well, Hercy (Miller) was really solid today. I just feel like at the end of the day, if we just keep fighting and we keep staying together there's no game that we can't stay in or game we can't win."