Louisville’s chances to win the ACC for the first time ever are somewhere on a Tallahassee road, bouncing along with the wheels that came off late in the Cardinals’ visit to Florida State on Monday night.

The Cardinals aren’t truly out of the race for the ACC crown, of course, but they are out of the driver's seat as they now trail both Duke and Florida State with only a handful of ACC games remaining. The Cardinals no longer steer their own destiny; they'll need help if they want a share of a conference title.

The 82-67 loss at FSU, by itself, isn’t terribly disheartening. FSU is ranked No. 6 in the country, is long and physical, and undefeated at home this season. Besides, the Cardinals will still get a double-bye in the ACC Tournament, and it's not like being a No. 1 seed in Greensboro will have much of an advantage over the No. 3 seed.

No, the loss isn’t dispiriting. But the way it happened is.

Everything was smooth-driving through the opening half. The ailments of the previous road trips to Georgia Tech and Clemson just over a week previous felt like a distant memory as the Cardinals never trailed in the opening 30 minutes and led by as many as 11 points thanks to staunch defense and smart offense.

There was no slow start, no absent Jordan Nwora. The talented junior showed off with some off-the-dribble jumpers, leading all scorers with 11 points and also grabbing 7 rebounds by intermission. But in his 19 second-half minutes, he accumulated all of 0 points and 1 rebound.

For the game’s final 15 minutes, the Cardinals took a U-turn as the team that fell to Georgia Tech and Clemson seemed to show up.

Louisville led by 10 points at that point, but the wheels loosened when the Cardinals' offense, suddenly precipitated on dribbling rather than passing, sputtered, and the defense was whistled for foul after foul.

The Cardinals looked like a team defeated even before FSU’s Trent Forrest slammed home the nail in the coffin with two minutes left, and M.J. Walker hammered it in again for good measure with an identical dunk.

The Cardinals’ eight assists on the game tied a season-low, and David Johnson’s six turnovers were his worst showing of the year.

Of course, the Cardinals were without Malik Williams, an especially essential player against a foe like FSU, making a tough task even tougher. But even considering the junior post’s absence, the meltdown was alarming as Louisville lost control of its ACC title chances.

More:Malik Williams 'is fine,' Chris Mack says, after twisting ankle in Florida State loss

The Cardinals have two regular season games and then the ACC Tournament remaining before they begin the NCAA Tournament, in which they are projected to be a No. 3 or a No. 4 seed. The final 15 minutes at FSU were frightening for Louisville fans, but the Cardinals have shown reason — throughout the season and for much of Monday’s game — to believe they can be a well-oiled machine.

The good news about wheels is that, even when they come off, you can put them back on. That will be Chris Mack and the Cardinals' task as we roll into March.

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Hayes Gardner can be reached at hgardner@gannett.com; Twitter: @HayesGardner; Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.