A furious second half rally proved to be too little and too late for eighth-seeded Florida State. The Seminoles played from behind most of the day in the second round of the ACC Tournament in Brooklyn in an 82-74 loss to No. 9 seed Louisville.
The last FSU (20-11) lead came with less than 12 minute to play in the first half as P.J. Savoy knocked down a 3-pointer while being fouled to make it 17-14. From there, the Cardinals (20-12) closed the half on a 27-5 run to take a 41-22 advantage in the locker room.
That lead ballooned to as many as 26 in the second half, but a 32-14 run for the Seminoles brought the lead to 76-68 with just under four minutes to play. Phil Cofer hit three consecutive 3-pointers at one point during the run.
FSU got as close as six on a dunk by Mfiondu Kabengele with 15 seconds to play, but Louisville made enough shots and got enough stops and offensive rebounds down the stretch. The Cardinals shot 51 percent from the field and 10-for-16 from beyond the 3-point line in the victory.
Quentin Snider finished with 19 points and six assists to pace Louisville in the win. Ray Spalding continued to play well against the Seminoles, adding 18 points on 8-for-13 shooting. Deng Adel, the team’s leading scorer coming in, scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Dwayne Sutton added 10 points and six boards.
The teams combined for 21 blocked shots in the contest as Louisville’s Anas Mahmoud led the way with five. The Seminoles had 11 as a team with Ike Obiagu coming away with four. The Seminoles were held to just 44 percent shooting and lost the battle on the glass, 38-35. Neither team shot well from the foul line as Louisville went just 8-for-15 and FSU just 12-for-21.
Savoy and Trent Forrest led the way for the Seminoles in the loss with 14 points apiece. Cofer scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half. Kabengele chipped in with 10 points and was tied for the team-lead with six rebounds. Forrest dished out six assists.
Wednesday’s loss will mark the first time that FSU failed to win a game at the ACC Tournament since 2011. Most believe that the Seminoles will be in the NCAA Tournament, but they’ll have to wait until Sunday to find out their fate. Louisville will advance to take on top-seeded Virginia on Thursday. The Cardinals entered the conference tournament sitting squarely on the bubble.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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