Immediate reactions: Florida State 82 Louisville 67

It's hard to envision Louisville basketball being capable of playing such divergent halves of basketball, but, in one of the nation's most difficult road environments, a first-half road lead quickly gave way to a second-half snowball that the Cardinals proved incapable of even slowing down. To say nothing of stopping it. A 41-16 run to close the game capped a 50-27 second half that saw Florida State run away from Louisville and leave no doubt. That being said, here are three takeaways.

It's no longer difficult to see how important Malik Williams is to the Louisville basketball team. And not just in tangible, measurable ways. Williams left the game early with a foot injury that, thankfully, turned out to be nothing more than a sprain. All things considered, that's the good news.

Without Malik Williams in the lineup, there is simply no defensive enforcer for Louisville. For as much as Dwayne Sutton is loved for his energy and effort, he's not a tall shot-blocker. And he doesn't talk. Malik Williams both talks and blocks shots. Both the shots of his man and the shots of those around him. With Steven Enoch forced to play extra minutes, Florida State never ceased to attack the basket almost at will. With Enoch trying to avoid fouling out since he had no backup and with his general lack of willingness to be an enforcing shot-blocker in the paint, Louisville simply had no answer for Florida State's persistent attacking of the basket in the second half.

Shortly after the game, while I waited for the ACC Network to upload the condensed version of the game, I tweeted the following:

It's not excuse-making to point out that much of tonight was simply about what Florida State is capable of doing and perhaps more importantly what Florida State is capable of forcing opponents to do. They're an aggressive, long, athletic defensive team that turns over and frustrates every opponent. Win or lose. Tonight, in the second half particularly, was no different. Chris Mack even said after the game that having watched film to prepare, absolutely nobody gets their usual offense against Florida State. Louisville proved to be no exception.

But the error many make is insisting that because Florida State is capable of flustering and shutting Louisville down in this manner then that must mean this is how it will go for Louisville in all games against highly ranked teams. I don't think that's the case at all. Louisville is unlikely to face many more opponents as well-coached and capable of fielding a better and more athletic lineup than Florida State is capable of fielding.

Does that make it ok? Of course not. But fans shouldn't make the opposite error of assuming this is the norm against any and all good teams. That is equally wrong.

After having perhaps his best game of the season against Florida State at the Yum Center, as the game began to slip away from Louisville in the second half, Nwora was ineffective in the second half. While scoring 11 points in the first half as part of an overall balanced offensive effort, Nwora was held scoreless in the second half. He finished the game 4 of 14 from the field and 1of 6 from three-point range. Many of those second-half threes were wide open and simply didn't fall. Despite playing 38 minutes, Nwora added just 8 rebounds on the night.

It's a worrisome trend that against the best teams and most athletic opponents, Nwora is the smallest factor. He simply must find alternative ways to impact the game when his jump shots aren't falling. He failed to do so and was rendered useless to stop the Seminoles' onslaught in the second half. He has a week to get his mind right to help Louisville to get into postseason mode at home against Virginia Tech and on the road at Virginia to finish up the regular season.