Florida State Seminoles vs Louisville Cardinals Box Score on Jan 18, 2021

RaiQuan Gray finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, and visiting Florida State built a big first-half lead and never trailed en route to its third consecutive victory, 78-65 at Louisville on Monday night.

Wyatt Wilkes had 13 points and Malik Osborne added 12 as the Seminoles (8-2, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by as many as 24 in the first half and shot 50 percent on the night. Star Seminoles freshman Scottie Barnes scored 10 points in 22 minutes after sitting out Florida State's 82-75 win over North Carolina on Saturday due to an ankle issue.

The Cardinals (9-3, 4-2) shot 43.9 percent while losing their second consecutive game. Carlik Jones had 17 points, David Johnson scored 15 and Jae'Lyn Withers added 14 with nine rebounds for the hosts.

Louisville, which dropped out of the national rankings earlier in the day after its five-game winning streak ended with a 78-72 loss at struggling Miami on Saturday, got within 57-49 on Withers' three-point play with 11:34 to play in the game. However, back-to-back dunks from Florida State's Balsa Koprivica highlighted an 8-0 run for the visitors, who eventually built their lead to 18 in the second half.

Florida State hit six of its first nine 3-point attempts and used runs of 9-0, 8-0 and 7-0 to build a 40-16 advantage with 4:38 left in the first half. Perhaps most impressive, the Seminoles got it done early without leading scorer M.J. Walker, who entered the contest averaging 16.3 points but was held scoreless through the first 20 minutes. Walker finished with two points and 10 assists.

RayQuan Evans (11 points overall) hit three 3-pointers during a first half in which Florida State made eight from long distance. However, Louisville found some life late by the half to get back into the contest.

Withers scored all eight of his first-half points when the Cardinals closed on a 12-2 run to trail 42-28 at the break. Johnson scored the other four points during that spurt for Louisville, which has lost four in a row against Florida State.

--Field Level Media