FSU vs. Louisville: Game thread, how to watch, notes, odds

Florida State Seminoles basketball, to put it simply, has had a challenging start to the 2022-23 season.

With multiple players missing time due to injury or, in the case of Baba Miller, unjust NCAA suspensions, the Seminoles have struggled to remain consistently competitive throughout each game this season, standing at 1-9 (0-1 ACC) on the season.

However, the last couple games have shown signs of life. FSU played top 5 Purdue tough for 32 minutes before fading down the stretch in a 10 points loss, and then went on the road and were in a one possession game with top 5 UVA with less than a minute to play. Moral losses are still losses, but the product on the court has certainly improved since the Troy and Siena games.

Today, the Seminoles get their home ACC opener against Louisville, who has somehow been even worse than Florida State. The Cardinals are winless at 0-8, having lost their first three games by a single point then getting blown out by the next five teams. Can FSU keep up the progress despite losing arguably their best overall player, Cam’Ron Fletcher, for the season late in that game up in Charlottesville?

According to DraftKings, the Seminoles are 9.5 point favorites against the Louisville Cardinals with the over/under set at 138.

Florida State vs. Louisville is set to start at 1 p.m. from Tallahassee and broadcast on the ACC Network.

Some notes, via FSU Sports Info:

FLORIDA STATE CONTINUES ACC PLAY AGAINST LOUISVILLE ON SATURDAY AT 1:00 P.M.

Florida State, which has won a series-best five consecutive games against Louisville, plays host to the Cardinals on Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee. The Seminoles have won each of their games against Louisville since gaining an 80-75 win in overtime in Tallahassee on February 9, 2019. The winning streak by the Seminoles includes three wins at home and two at Louisville with the most recent coming as a 79-70 win on January 8, 2022 in the Tucker Center. The Seminoles’ game against the Cardinals marks Florida State’s ACC home opener for the 2022-23 season. Following Saturday’s game against Louisville, the Seminoles play host to USC Upstate on Tuesday, December 13, 2022 with an 8:30 start time.

FLORIDA STATE AT HOME SINCE 2015

Florida State is 89-12 at home in the last six (plus) seasons (.881 winning percentage). The Seminoles have won 89 of their last 101 home games since February 27, 2015. The Seminoles won their final three home games of the 2015-16 season (Notre Dame, Syracuse, Davidson) and have won 86 of 98 home games (.887 winning percentage) in the last six seasons (2018 through 2022).

HAMILTON PRESENTED WITH PRESTIGIOUS JOE LAPCHICK AWARD IN NEW YOUR CITY

Florida State men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton received the Joe Lapchick Character Award presented by the Joe Lapchick Foundation during a ceremony at the New York Athletic Club on September 16, 2022. Hamilton was honored with the award which celebrates the life and career of Joe Lapchick, a Hall of Fame coach at St. John’s University (1936-47) and the New York Knicks (1947-56), who was well known for his compassion and integrity off the court. The award is given to coaches who exhibit honorable character and who have impacted the game of basketball as did Lapchick. Hamilton is just the fifth head coach from the ACC to earn the award. He joins Georgia Tech’s Bobby Cremins, Virginia’s Pete Gillen, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, and North Carolina’s Dean Smith as Lapchick Award winners from the nation’s top college basketball conference.

CLEVELAND NAMED TO JULIUS ERVING AWARD WATCH LIST

Florida State’s Matthew Cleveland has been named to the Julius Erving Watch List as the nation’s top collegiate small forward by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. It marks the second consecutive season that Cleveland has been named to the initial watch list for the prestigious Julius Erving Award. Cleveland is one of three players from the ACC named to the Julius Erving Watch List. He is joined on the list by Dariq Whitehead of Duke and Leaky Black of North Carolina. The award is named for Julius Erving, who attended the University of Massachusetts (1969-71). He averaged 26.3 points and 20.2 rebounds per game, making him one of only six NCAA men’s basketball players to average more than 20 points and 20 rebounds per game during his career.

HAMILTON IS THE FIFTH WINNINGEST COACH IN ACC HISTORY

Seminole Head Coach Leonard Hamilton is the fifth winningest coach in ACC history with 396 career wins and ranked fifth in ACC history with 177 career ACC wins at Florida State.

HAMILTON APPROACHING ACC MILESTONE

Florida State Head Coach Leonard Hamilton enters Saturday’s game against Virginia with 396 career wins as the Seminoles’ Head Coach in the ACC. He is just four wins shy of becoming the fifth coach in ACC history with 400 or more wins as a coach in the nation’s top conference for basketball. Hamilton is looking to join a select group that consists of Mike Krzyzewski, Duke (1,129 wins), Dean Smith of North Carolina (879 wins), Roy Williams of North Carolina (485 wins) and Gary Williams of Maryland (461 wins).

RECENT DOUBLE DOUBLES IN ACC GAMES

Julius Erving Award Watch list honoree Matthew Cleveland earned his third career double double of 11 points and 10 rebounds against Virginia on Saturday. In the last three seasons five different Seminoles have earned 10 double doubles in ACC play: Cleveland, 3; Cam’Ron Fletcher, 2; Harrison Prieto, 1; RaiQuan Gray, 3; and Balsa Koprivica, 1.

Florida State vs. Louisville how to watch, TV info

Date

Saturday, December 10

Time

1 p.m.

TV

ACC Network

Stream

ESPN, Hulu

Listen

Seminoles Radio Network