Louisville basketball rallies to snap FSU's 28-game home winning streak

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Ryan McMahon sank a critical 3-pointer and followed it up with two win-sealing free throws to help Louisville top Florida State, 73-69, on Wednesday night.

Louisville (12-4, 2-1 ACC) snapped FSU's 28-game winning streak at the Donald Tucker Civic Center.

McMahon scored 11 points off the bench while Ray Spalding (15 points, six rebounds) and Deng Adel (16 points, six rebounds) led the charge. 

Braian Angola did his best to fuel FSU, scoring a 18 points and hitting two late 3-pointers. And Terance Mann had a career-high 25 points.

But FSU (12-4, 1-3) lost a 17-point first-half lead and 13-point halftime cushion. 

It was the largest road comeback for Louisville since 2003, and the first road win against a ranked opponent since 2014. The Cards had lost their previous 12 road contests against ranked opponents.

"Holy smokes, I haven't sweat like that in a long time," interim Louisville coach David Padgett said. "I'm just extremely, extremely proud of my players. Obviously for the win, first and foremost, but how we battled back. It could've gone the other way in a hurry on us."

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Persistence on offense: Louisville played its best offensive game of the season, running patient sets and working to find better looks than the first available look. It was the kind of persistent, confident offense David Padgett has wanted to see all season. The spacing was good. The ball movement was productive. Even down 13 at halftime, it felt like that.

But the performance wasn't perfect by any means. One scoring drought lasted more than five minutes. At first, Louisville just went cold shooting despite getting good looks. But as things soured, there was too much one-on-one play and Louisville slumped. So consistency is still an issue. But overall, it was still very much the type of offensive performance Louisville needed to compete with a top-25 team on the road. 

Defensive rebounding issues return: It was hit or miss for the Cards on their own defensive glass. Florida State's big run in the first half was built on offensive rebounds and winning 50-50 balls. It was all effort and tenacity for the Seminoles, and Louisville lost its grip on a close game. Louisville recovered in the second half, and that played a big part in the comeback. The Cards got 11 of 14 available rebounds on the defensive glass in the final 20 minutes, and that played a big part in the comeback

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"We said at halftime if we could take care of the backboard a little better, we'll get back in the game," Padgett said. "We just slowly but surely chipped away at it."

Spalding, Adel thrive: This was a sterling performance from both players, and it couldn't have come at a more important time for Louisville. Adel was assertive again on offense, consistently driving and trying to create off the dribble. And Spalding used his length and athleticism on both ends of the floor, and he did it with patience.

Combined, they totaled 31 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals.

What was that? This was a first for just about everyone: With Louisville storming into a five-point lead with 2:34 left in the game, FSU's facilities guys needed to replace a net on FSU's hoop. It took 12 minutes. Both FSU and Louisville's players stood on the court as cheerleaders and dance-team members entertained the bored crowd. Quite an odd end to the game.

Up next: Louisville returns home after back-to-back road games against top-25 opponents. The Cards host Virginia Tech at 4 p.m. Saturday.