Reyne Smith scored a season-high 27 points for the Louisville Cardinals, who shot their way to their first Atlantic Coast Conference victory of the season Saturday with a 90-76 win over the host Florida State Seminoles in Tallahassee, Fla.
Playing against one of the nation’s stingiest perimeter-defending teams, the Cardinals (7-5, 1-1) made a season-high 15 3-point shots on 29 attempts for a season-best 51.7 percent mark.
Smith, who came off the bench after starting the last four games, led the way, going 6-for-9 from beyond the arc. He also scored 19 of his points in the second half.
Louisville, a team that entered Saturday making just 28 percent of their treys, went 10-for-15 on them in the second half. For the game, the Cardinals shot 50.9 percent overall from the floor.
The Seminoles (9-4, 0-2) made it tough for their guests as they shot 52.7 percent. However, they could not stop the Cardinals from deep despite being the nation’s sixth-best team in defending the arc (26.5 percent).
Jamir Watkins led the Seminoles with 25, with 17 coming in the second half.
The Cardinals used an 11-0 run to take a 16-5 lead less than six minutes into the game. Florida State responded with 10 consecutive points, but the Seminoles were not able to jump ahead afterward.
Even with Louisville going scoreless over the final 3:34, the Cardinals took a 36-34 lead into halftime. Point guard Chucky Hepburn, who had five assists in the half, sat for the final 2:47.
That carried over into the second half as the Cardinals always found an answer for a Florida State run. The Seminoles shot 60.7 percent in the second half, but Louisville’s lead never dropped below four points in the final 10 minutes.
Terrence Edwards Jr., who started for Louisville for the first time in three games, finished with 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Hepburn scored 16 points and also dished out eight assists.
Louisville got assists on 18 of its 28 baskets.
Noah Waterman added 15 and went 4-for-7 from the arc for the visitors.
Florida State’s Malique Ewin scored 17 points, making seven of his 11 shots.
–Field Level Media
