Louisville Basketball Wins Convincingly On the Road Despite Chris Jones Absence

In games without Chris Jones, Louisville has struggled mightily to win. Louisville first announced they would be without Jones just before the team traveled to Syracuse. Without the team’s starting point guard, they would drop that game against Jim Boeheim’s illustrious 2-3 zone. Louisville desperately missed Jones’ defense and play making ability in that contest.

Jones would then return for the Miami game at home — a contest Louisville surely would have lost without him — and then against Georgia Tech, the team that struggled to score and edged out a slight victory 52-51.

The road ahead only gets tougher without Jones, but on Saturday, the Cardinals won rather convincingly at Florida State. Florida State was coming off a tough road loss where freshman sensation Xavier Rathan-Mayes went off for 30 points within the last five minutes of play. They looked poised to take on a struggling Louisville team at home, but Louisville had other plans as the Cardinals went on to shoot 48.4 percent from the floor and come out of Tallahassee with an 81-59 victory.

Louisville played like a team with their back against the wall, almost as if the team had nothing to lose. Four of Louisville’s starters scored in double figures, including Jones’ replacement, Quentin Snider, who ended up with 11 points and four assists.

Cardinal fans have to appreciate the way that Louisville played, especially on the road. Although Florida State isn’t the most daunting of opponents, Louisville took a big step forward in the right direction on Saturday.

James Szuba is a college basketball writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesSzuba.