By Ken Cross
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Louisville Cardinals (7-4) feasted on making 15-of-29 three-point shots and assisted 18-of-28 field goals to pick up their first ACC win at Florida State, 90-76.
“I thought our guys did a good job offensively, first of all with great poise,” commented Cardinals head coach Pat Kelsey.
The poise was a major factor as the Cardinals were stable on the three-point shot within their offensive framework and as a team, they would pass on shots to make to make easier plays.
“To come out of a game against a team that forces turnovers as well as anyone is a testament to our guys of playing under control, playing with great poise, and continuing to make the simple play,” Kelsey noted.
Guard Reyne Smith led Louisville with 27 points as he connected on 6-of-9 triples while Noah Waterman made four shots from behind the arc.
Terrence Edwards was a tough matchup as scored 19 points with 6-of-13 field goal attempts while consistently getting to the free-throw line.
Point guard Chucky Hepburn finished with a trio of three-pointers in his 16 points.
“Both of these guys are elite shooters and they stepped up and made really big shots tonight,” said Kelsey, of Waterman and Smith who joined him behind the microphone during the postgame.”
So far this season, the Cardinals had an interesting three-ball statistic as they came into the game shooting only 28 percent from three, but led college basketball in three point attempts with 357.
Louisville committed only seven turnovers, which allowed only 10 Seminoles points, and FSU scored just seven points off the fast break.
“I think taking care of the ball helps,” Kelsey said. “Turnovers for touchdowns against these guys are bad news. Not allowing them to turn it over didn’t allow them to get in transition, like that.”
“They do a great job of flocking to penetration, blocking shots, and stealing the ball,” said Kelsey. “I feel like our guys did a good job of finding these guys when they had a hot hand.”
Waterman’s four threes on Saturday tied his season high of four in Louisville’s 89-61 rendering of Indiana in the opener of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
“When you’re a shooter you can’t really worry about missing because it’s on to the next play,” said Waterman, who transferred to Louisville from BYU. “Today Reyne and me were hitting shots though.”
Smith made three triples in 2:45 to extend Louisville’s lead to 68-58 with eight minutes remaining.
“It’s fun whenever you kind of find your rhythm,” Smith explained. “Every time you get the ball, everything feels really good. You don’t really think.”
Chucky Hepburn has had normalcy on the perimeter with his shooting ability, but he joined Terrence Edwards with eight assists.
“Chucky is an elite point guard,” said Smith. “I am always talking to him about what I see as a shooter. He does a really good job of listening and knowing I am always moving and he will help find me.”
Waterman discussed how Louisville has adopted a “next play” mindset.
“Our mentality is always 0-0 (score) … Any time out, we talk about the score, ‘It’s 0-0,’ and onto the next score,” said Waterman. “It’s super nice to get off to a hot start, but we keep that mentality.”