The University of Louisville men’s basketball team will try to put what has likely been a wearisome week behind it Saturday.
That’s when the Cardinals (22-6 overall, 10-5 in the Atlantic Coast Conference), who are No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25, play at Florida State (15-14, 7-9) at noon in Tallahassee, Fla. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
It will be Louisville’s second game since senior point guard Chris Jones was dismissed from the team Sunday, and its first since he was formally charged with rape and sodomy (he pleaded not guilty) Thursday.
Putting the Jones saga behind them will be paramount for the Cards, who are alone in fourth-place in the ACC, as they try to secure a double-bye in next month’s ACC Tournament, and find themselves after the departure of Jones (who averaged 13.7 points, four rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while also leading the squad in steals) . UofL is coming off a 52-51 win - in which it trailed for most of the game - at Georgia Tech on Monday night.
Meanwhile the Seminoles, who were picked to finish eighth in the ACC preseason poll, are alone in 11th-place. Florida State, which lost 6-foot-5 junior guard Aaron Thomas (14.8 ppg) to eligibility issues after six games, is coming off an 81-77 loss - their fourth in their last seven games - at Miami on Wednesday night. Florida State
The Seminoles are led by 6-foot-4 freshman guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes (14.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.5 apg), who scored 30 of his game-high 35 points in the final 4 minutes, 38 seconds of the loss to the Hurricanes. Aiding Rathan-Mayes are 6-7 junior guard Montay Brandon (12 ppg, 5.6 rpg), 6-3 junior guard Devon Bookert (10.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg), 6-8 freshman forward Phil Cofer (6.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and 6-9 sophomore forward Jarquez Smith (6.3 ppg).
UofL leads the all-time series between the two schools 30-9, but Florida State won the last meeting - 76-69 in the Metro Conference Tournament championship game on March 9, 1991.
Photo courtesy University of Louisville Men’s Basketball Facebook Page
