FSU basketball plays at Louisville

Let’s be honest. If FSU basketball wants to make it to the big dance - and this is a team no one predicted getting there - then they need to pull a couple of upsets down the stretch. Luckily, this is the ACC, so they’ll get several opportunities.

The first is today, on the road, against Louisville.

The Cardinals have won three national titles. They’ve been to the Elite-8 fourteen times. This is a blue blood program (and they have the talent and the FBI investigation to prove it).

The first time these two teams met, FSU’s carelessness coming out of the half cost them. The Seminoles were up 13 at the break. Then they came out and turned it over on six of their first nine possessions. Game.

That was the beginning of Louisville’s impressive run to become the team people expected they’d be. After getting crushed by Kentucky and then starting ACC play 1-1, the comeback vs the ‘Noles facilitated a 5-2 run in conference play, with their only losses coming at Miami in OT and at Virginia.

In the first matchup, junior Deng Adel had 16 points, which is right at his season average of 15.6. He’s a 36% 3-point shooter.

Senior Quentin Snider scores 12.8 per game, and the versatile 6-10 junior Ray Spalding scores 11.2 per game.

Their offense has been 6th in ACC play. They need to score in transition, and they’re not great on the offensive glass.

Defensively, they’re 4th in conference play, and they’ve been forcing a ton of turnovers. They’d have the 2nd best defense behind Virginia if they could rebound.

To pull the upset, FSU is going to have to dominate the glass, as they did the first time around. In that first game, though, Florida State made just 8-24 3s. That needs to improve.

The game tips at 4 PM from the KFC Yum! Center, and will be broadcast on the ACC Network. The Seminoles are 5-point underdogs.