Louisville came into Saturday’s game making 28 percent of its 3-pointers. The Cardinals looked like 3-point specialists against Florida State.

Reyne Smith was 6 for 9 from long range, leading a barrage of 15 3-pointers, as Louisville made the extra passes and made FSU pay, with the Cardinals taking a 90-76 win. Smith led Louisville with 25 points.

Louisville finished 15 of 29 (51.7 percent) from 3-point range, easily surpassing the 10 that FSU allowed in a loss to Florida earlier in the season.

The Seminoles’ inability to defend the 3-pointer drops them to 0-2 in ACC play going into the holiday break. FSU was leading the ACC in allowing opponents to make just 26.5 percent of 3s coming into the game.

"Sometimes it’s hard to make 15 3s if you’re in the gym by themselves," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They were locked in mentally and emotionally, and I thought they played to their strengths a lot better than we did. Their lies a loss that was very, very important to us. I’m hoping that we learn a lot from this game of how you prepare yourself, going against any opponent in the ACC. … We didn’t do a very good job of controlling the defensive side of the floor."

Jamir Watkins shook off a cold start to finish with 25 points on 9 of 15 shooting. He had just eight points at the half on 3 of 8 shooting. Watkins has hit the 20-point mark in four straight games.

Malique Ewin scored 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting, his 10th straight game in double figures.

But FSU was credited of just 6 of 14 on layups, while others from point-blank range missed. The opportunities were there for the taking, but likely not enough to overcome Louisville's hot shooting and FSU's poor perimeter defense.

And the Seminoles finished with just 12 bench points, including Alier Maluk's five.

Terrance Edwards was also able to slash to the rim for Louisville, picking up 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting.

FSU came off a game where Winthrop made nine 3s, but that came on 36 shots. And the Seminoles held Tulane to 3 of 22 from deep last Saturday.

But the non-conference slate of games is in the rear-view mirror. The opponents get tougher.

Florida made 10 3s in its win, LSU made nine 3s and NC State hit 8 3s. None of the percentages of made 3s was alarming to raise major concerns with FSU's perimeter defense. But making 15 of 29 on Saturday was alarming, with the Cardinals using drives and then kicking the ball back out to make open 3s.

Smith said he felt very comfortable. "Every time you get the ball, everything feels really good," he said. "... feeling like you're just throwing the rock into the ocean."

Louisville (7-5) had been tested early in the season, suffering losses at Kentucky and in home games to Duke and Ole Miss as well as a neutral-site loss to Oklahoma. Each of those opponents came into Saturday in the top 40 of KenPom’s metrics.

FSU (9-4) has suffered four losses to top 100 schools without securing a notable win before the calendar turns to 2025. While FSU should be praised for not suffering a bad loss, the Seminoles’ best victory has come over No. 118 Temple.

And FSU is also 0-2 in ACC play, a dent to the early record as the team hopes to make the postseason following a three-year absence.

FSU takes a few weeks off for the holidays and will play hot to Syracuse on Jan. 4 at 6 p.m.

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