Ken Ruinard
Clemson Downs Louisville 54-50 to Snap Losing Skid
It wasn't exactly pretty at times for Brad Brownell and the Tigers but it was effective, as Clemson used an impressive defensive effort to knock off No. 25 Louisville 54-50 at home on Wednesday night.
The loss ends a three-game losing streak for the Tigers, a streak that saw the team get blown out in consecutive losses to Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Florida State.
With just under eight minutes remaining and the game tied at 37, Clemson used a 12-4 run over the next several minutes, slowly building themselves an eight point lead with under three minutes to go that Louisville was never able to overcome.
"I'm just happy for my players, been a hard eight or nine days," Brownell said. "Not only winning the game, but the way we won it. Got back to who we need to be to be a good team. Defend and play with a lot of energy, and just kind of tough one out."
The Tigers got back to playing aggressive defense against the Cardinals, something that had worked so well for them during their 9-1 start. Clemson forced Louisville into three first-half shot clock violations and held the Cardinals to just 32 percent shooting on the night. The perimeter defense was even better as Louisville was just 5-24 from beyond the arc.
While Clemson didn't shoot much better (36 percent), they got some big shots when it mattered, including a big three-point bucket from Al-Amir Dawes with 2:51 left that put the Tigers up 49-41.
"Was a hard game to score, both teams couldn't make shots," Brownell said. "I think both teams had some good shots and missed them but there were very, very few easy baskets in the game. I'm just really happy we were able to sustain our defense for the full 40 minutes... we needed every stop tonight."
Aamir Simms scored 9 of his team-high 16 points in the second half and also had 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Dawes scored 15 points, going 4-8 from three, and Hunter Tyson chipped in with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
"I think over the last week and a half, I think everyone in the country forgot how we play defense and how we play our game," Simms said. "We're not a team that's going to outscore you, we're not going to put up 80 on the scoreboard. We're going to lock down, play defense and we prefer ugly wins over anything."
Clemson improves to 10-4 on the season and 4-4 in ACC play. Louisville drops to 10-4 and 5-3 in league play.
Key Play: Aamir Simms was fouled going up for a shot under the basket with 1:28 left. Simms not only hit the shot but the ensuing free throw as well, putting Clemson up 52-45.
"Give Aamir a lot of credit," Brownell said. "He finished the play, and it was obviously a huge basket on the timeout for us."
Player of the Game: Al-Amir Dawes scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half, including knocking down three of his five three-point attempts.
Next Up: Clemson travels to Durham for a road matchup with Duke on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for noon.
