Florida State Seminoles at Louisville Cardinals
Monday night features an ACC showdown as the Florida State Seminoles (7-2) take on the No. 16 Louisville Cardinals (9-2). Louisville will host this one from the KFC Yum! Center with tipoff scheduled for 7 pm ET.
While 7-2 overall, Florida State is 3-1 in the conference, good enough for fourth currently. With Louisville just one spot ahead of them, they hope to leapfrog them in the ACC standings Monday.
This will be just the second game Florida State has played on the road this season. They will look for better results than their first road game when they lost 77-67 to No. 12 Clemson.
Louisville comes into this one trying to bounce back from a tough 78-72 road loss to unranked Miami. Before that, they had won five in a row. They will be happy to be back at the KFC Yum! Center where they are 6-0 on the season.
Louisville comes in as a slight favorite playing at home. They are -134 to win while the Seminoles’ moneyline sits at +114. The spread features Florida State +1.5 while the over/under for total points is 140.5.
By The Numbers
Offensively, Florida State holds a clear advantage. They currently rank 41st in the nation scoring 79.1 points per game (84.7 over their last three). For Louisville, they rank 164th, averaging 71.2 points (74 over their last three).
Defensively, it is Louisville with the edge. They rank 44th in scoring defense, allowing 64.4 points per game. The Seminoles fall to 145th, allowing an average of 69.7 points per game.
Seminoles Look to Make it Two Upsets in a Row for Cardinals
Florida State is probably one of the best unranked teams in the NCAA, and they will be out to prove it on Monday. They would love nothing more than to make it two upsets in a row from unranked teams for Louisville.
Leading the way for the Seminoles this season is senior guard M.J. Walker. On the season, Walker is averaging 16.3 points per game on 46% shooting, including 92% from the charity stripe and 45.7% from behind the arc. He is also chipping in 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and a steal per game.
The only other player averaging double digits is guard Scottie Barnes. He is averaging 11.1 points to go along with 3.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.5 steals.
Other major contributors include Anthony Polite (9.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, one steal), Balsa Koprivica (9.4 points, 5.7 rebounds), and RaiQuan Gray (8.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.7 steals).
Louisville Tries to Recover
It was a heartbreaking game to drop one to Miami on the road Saturday. Still, the Cardinals don’t have any time to feel sorry for themselves as they will have another tough matchup when they welcome Florida State on Monday.
Senior guard Carlik Jones has been turning heads this season and is putting himself in the conversation as exciting draft prospects. He is averaging 18 points on 43.5% shooting. He is also adding 6.2 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
The Cardinals have two others averaging double digits, including guard David Johnson (12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists) and forward Jae’Lyn Withers (10.2 points, 7.2 rebounds).
Others adding production include Dre Davis (9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds) and Samuell Williamson (8.9 points, 6.2 rebounds).
Taking Louisville to Bounce Back and Protect Home Court
This one comes with the caveat that if MJ Walker has another huge game, anything could happen. After a huge upset on Saturday, though, I see Louisville coming out focused and determined.
Throw on top of that the fact that Louisville has played exceptional at home. It will likely be close throughout, but I like Louisville to bounce back and cover the slim 1.5-point spread.
