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Louisville Basketball: 5 Encouraging Stats From The Loss To FSU

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:35 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Derek Snyder/FanSided via Big Red Louie

We take a look at five different stats that you should be encouraged by in Louisville basketball’s loss to Florida State.

Well, I can garuntee you that the Louisville basketball team isn’t happy after losing to Florida State on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean the effort was a total failure. The Cards did some very good things against the Seminoles, but ultimately it just wasn’t enough.

You have to remember that conference road-wins are extremely tough to come by and playing without Quentin Snider made a big difference.

With that being said, still take a look at five encouraging stats from the loss to FSU:

Jan 21, 2017; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Mangok Mathiang (12) defends Florida State Seminoles forward Jonathan Isaac (1) during the second half at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

5. Louisville Held FSU To A 36.7 Field Goal Percentage

I do understand that there aren’t always good things to talk about whenever the Cards lose a conference basketball game, but just hear me out. The Cards got off to a terrible start, however they were able to tighten their defense up and hold Florida State to one of their worst shooting performances of the entire season.

As bad as Louisville played, they held a team that has the best field goal percentage in the conference to 36.7 percent on Saturday. Not to mention, FSU was only 4-16 from the perimeter as well.

The biggest different in this game was that Louisville couldn’t shoot either, but the Cards did end up with a better field goal percentage than Florida State. I think it’s pretty clear that Louisville can compete, even on a day when they are playing terrible.

Jan 21, 2017; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard David Levitch (23) moves the ball past Florida State Seminoles guard PJ Savoy (5) during the first half at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

4. David Levitch: 9 Points, 3 Assists, and 3 Rebounds

Isn’t it amazing to see how far David Levitch has come in the few years that he has been playing under Rick Pitino. Heck, I always thought he would be the guy that would come in at the end of a blow-out and hit a couple of jumpers. However, he’s actually become a vital part of this team.

Whether it was playing 12 great minutes against Kentucky or completely taking on Florida State, Levitch is continuing to impress more and more every month.

In a time where the Cards looked out of control, the kid from Goshen came in and played one of his best career games against the Seminoles. He was one of the main reasons why the Cardinals were even able to compete in a tough environment on Saturday afternoon.

Jan 21, 2017; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Deng Adel (22) defends Florida State Seminoles guard Terance Mann (14) during the first half at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

3. Louisville Had 43 Rebounds, Whereas FSU Only Had 40

Normally this wouldn’t be a huge deal, but it is important whenever Florida State was killing Louisville on the boards through the first ten minutes. It wasn’t until Mangok Mathiang started getting physical that Louisville was able to finally bring down some rebounds down in Tallahassee.

The even more impressive fact is that the Cards were able to have this type of performance without any production from Anas Mahmoud.

I would argue that Mahmoud could be Louisville’s MVP over the past month, but his stock took a huge hit after he only played five minutes and the only stat he recorded was four fouls. I never thought we would see an outing like that from Mahmoud in 2017.

With that being said, Louisville’s depth was still able to come through on the boards. That’s definitely a reason for encouragement.

Jan 21, 2017; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Louisville Cardinals forward Mangok Mathiang (12) defends Florida State Seminoles guard Trent Forrest (3) during the first half at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

2. Mangok Mathiang Finished With A Double-Double

Mangok Mathiang put in one of the best performances that we have seen from him all season long on Saturday against Florida State. He came into the game off the bench and was extremely physical with the Seminoles’ bigs in the paint, which helped the Cards get back into the basketball game.

He finished the afternoon with 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, and 13 points. Other than Tony Hicks, Mathiang had the best performance of any Louisville player this weekend.

It should give all of us comfort heading into the rest of the season that Mathiang was actually able to be productive this week. He played well against Clemson and even better against Florida State, i think we all can be okay with that trend.

Jan 21, 2017; Tallahassee, FL, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Tony Hicks (1) moves the ball past Florida State Seminoles guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes (22) during the first half at the Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

1. Tony Hicks Led The Cards With 16 Points

I was beginning to wonder if we would ever see a game where Tony Hicks led the Cardinals in scoring, but he proved me wrong on Saturday. Hicks had to play 32 minutes against Florida State, which will definitely be one of his highest totals of the entire season when it’s all said and done.

He did miss a bunch of lay-ups, but he played a ton better than Donovan Mitchell did this weekend. Hicks finished the game with 16 points, 3 rebounds, and one assist.

He’s not Quentin Snider and I’m not expecting him to be, but he needs to continue to get a better grasp of what Rick Pitino wants to do on offense. A point guard only having one assist, especially after playing 32 minutes definitely isn’t good.

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However, he stepped up to the plate whenever most of the Louisville starters were non-existent down in Tallahassee.

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