FSU basketball: Takeaways from ‘Noles destruction of Louisville

FSU basketball used one of its most dominant second halves in recent memory to put the Louisville Cardinals away for the second time this season.

No. 6 FSU basketball (24-4, 14-3, ACC) proved the first time they dominated the No. 11 Louisville Cardinals (23-6, 14-4 ACC) was no fluke with it’s 82-67 win Monday night.

The first game saw the Noles put the ball in the basket-like the old school game NBA Jam “He’s On Fire” as they shot well over 50 percent from the floor and nearly 50 percent from three-point range while only shooting a handful of free throws.

The game Monday night took a whole different twist as it was Louisville who couldn’t seem to miss in the first half with FSU offering a lot of self-inflicted wounds.

I counted eight points from missed layups in six-minutes between the end of the first-half and the beginning of the second-half for the Noles.

However, once FSU got the momentum going, it was like a tsunami of garnet and gold the Cardinals couldn’t withstand.

FSU shot 51 percent from the floor but was only 5 of 16 from three-point land but did make 21 of 27 free throws. A stark contrast from the first game, but the second-half was more like the first game defensively as the Noles put the clamps down on Louisville’s offense.

The Cardinals shot over 50 percent from the floor in the first-half, but finished the game shooting just 42 percent. FSU won the battle of the boards, something they failed to do in the first contest.

Louisville’s Jordan Nwora was held in check, scoring just 11 points after dropping 32 against the Noles in the first game.

One key to FSU’s second-half run was only turning the ball over twice as Louisville only had one steal in the game. The depth of FSU was a factor as usual. FSU had five players score in double figures and nine players to play at least 14 minutes. Louisville saw it’s starting lineup play heavy minutes and only going about seven deep in its rotation.

It was a great win for the Noles, but the close loss to Duke puts them a half-game behind the Blue Devils, although FSU has beaten a Louisville team twice who has beaten Duke. The Noles need a Duke loss and to win their three remaining games to claim the ACC regular season title.