Preview: Louisville Cardinals vs. Clemson Tigers

Clemson Tigers (19-7, 11-4 ACC) at Louisville Cardinals (3-23, 1-14 ACC)

- Tipoff: Saturday, February 18 at 7:00 p.m. EST
- Location: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
- How To Watch: ACC Network
- How To Listen: 93.9 FM
- Betting Favorite: Clemson: -11.0
- All-Time Series: Louisville leads 8-5
- Last Meeting: Clemson won 83-70 on Jan. 11, 2023 (Littlejohn Coliseum - Louisville, Ky.)

Projected Starting Lineups

Louisville

G El Ellis (6-3, 180, Sr.)
G/F Mike James (6-5, 215, R-Fr.)
F J.J. Traynor (6-8, 190, Jr.)
F Jae'Lyn Withers (6-9, 220, R-Jr.)
F Sydney Curry (6-8, 270, Sr.)

Clemson

G Chase Hunter (6-3, 204, Jr.)
G Brevin Galloway (6-3, 210, Gr.)
F Ian Schieffelin (6-7, 230, So.)
F Hunter Tyson (6-8, 217, Gr.)
C P.J. Hall (6-10, 245, Jr.)

Comparison

See how the Cardinals stack up against the Tigers, and who the statistical models favor: Tale of The Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Clemson

Game Notes

Louisville

Last game: Louisville nearly was able to pull off a massive upset against No. 7 Virginia, but instead fell 61-58.
KEY FIRST HALF RUN: The Cavaliers ended the half strong with a 12-0 run over the last 4:57 to put them ahead 29-26. The Cards had a 21-8 run that lasted 8:43, putting them ahead 26-17 for their biggest lead of the game. El Ellis scored 13 points in a row over this span and led both teams with 13 points in the first half.
KEY SECOND HALF RUN: The Cardinals forced four turnovers over five minutes but could not hold the lead due to a 12-2 Cavalier run that spanned 4:17. The Cardinals snagged a one-point lead to bring the score to 42-41 in the middle of the second half after a 3-pointer from JJ Traynor. However, Virginia fought back with nine straight points.
UofL shot 21 of 50 (.420) from the field, 8 of 20 (.400) from 3-point range, and 8 of 10 (.810) from the free-throw line. Louisville outscored Virginia from the 3-point line 8-6 and shot 40.0% from behind the arc. This is the 10th time this season the Cardinals outscored their opponent from behind the arc.
Louisville’s 10 turnovers tied a season low. The Cardinals have now had 13 or fewer turnovers in five of the last six games.
El Ellis recorded a team-high 21 points, shooting 7 of 14 (50%) from the field, 3 of 6 (50%) from behind the arc, and 4 of 4 (100%) from the free-throw line. Ellis has not missed a free throw since the game against Georgia Tech on Feb. 1. The guard had a team-high three assists and pulled down four rebounds. This was Ellis’ 11th 20-point game of the season. In the first half, Ellis had 13 points shooting 7 of 10 (70%) from the field and 3 of 5 (60%) from the 3-point line.
Jae'Lyn Withers ended the game with 12 points while pulling down eight rebounds. The forward tied a career high with two blocked shots. Withers added one triple against the Cavaliers. In conference play, Withers is 30 of 64 from 3- point range (46.9%).
Kamari Lands recorded a new career high in steals with four while pulling down three rebounds and scoring two points. Lands has had at least one steal in five straight games and averages 1.8 steals per game over that span.
Mike James scored 10 points, shooting 3 of 4 (75%) from beyond the arc. He is shooting 41.9% from the 3-point line in the last seven games while averaging 10.4 points per game over that span. James added two rebounds and two assists to the stat line as well.
J.J. Traynor set a new career high in rebounds with nine while scoring nine points and adding one block. The forward shot 4 of 7 (57.1%) from the field and added a triple as well. Traynor had one dunk and has accounted for more than half of the teams dunks this season (18 of 34).
Brandon Huntley-Hatfield returned from a foot injury that forced him to miss the last eight games, playing six minutes off the bench.
Players from the 2012-13 Louisville team that won the national championship that was later vacated who are expected to attend Saturday include Mike Baffour, Logan Baumann, Jordan Bond, Wayne Blackshear, 2013 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Luke Hancock, Montrezl Harrell, Tim Henderson, Mike Marra, Zach Price, Peyton Siva, Stephan Van Treese and Kevin Ware. Several support staff and student managers will also be in attendance.
The Cards are in the midst of an eight-game stretch to end the regular season that will see them play seven games vs. teams in the top 70 of the NET Rankings. Their five opponents from Pitt to Duke have an average NET Ranking of 38.
Over the last 17 games, senior guard El Ellis has averaged 18.6 points, 5.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals. As of Thursday, Ellis was one of 17 players in the nation with at least 450 points and 120 assists this season. After having a positive or even assist-to-turnover ratio just three times in the first nine games of the season, Ellis has been positive or even in 15 of the last 17 games. In his last 12 games since 2023 began, he has 64 assists against just 37 turnovers.
In his last seven games, redshirt junior forward Jae’Lyn Withers is averaging 14.0 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field, 50% from 3-point range (18 of 36) and 78% from the free-throw line. Among players with at least 1.5 made 3s per game, Withers ranks second in the ACC in conference play in 3-point shooting at 47%.
In the last six games – the first five coming off the bench – freshman forward Kamari Lands is averaging 9.0 points per game while shooting 50% from the field (18 of 36) and 53% from 3-point range (10 of 19).

Clemson

Hunter Tyson is making his case for ACC Player of the Year. He is 14th in the nation in double-doubles (12) and second in the ACC. He's first in defensive rebounding per game in the ACC (8.19) and third nationally. He's 25th nationally in total rebounds (249) and fourth in the ACC.
Tyson was named Co-ACC Player of the Week for his performance vs. NC State. The first of his career. (Jan. 2). He was just named to the Naismith Hall of Fame Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award Top 10. Also named to the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List (POY).
Tyson posted career highs in points (31) and rebounds (15) in the Tigers' 78-64 win over NC State (Dec. 30). The first 30 and 15 game since Horace Grant (vs. WF on Feb. 18, 1987 – 33 and 20).
Tyson returned for his graduate campaign and will look to become the Tigers' all-time games played leader in program history. Tyson has played 132 games and needs three to become the all time leader (134; Cliff Hammonds, K.C. Rivers, Trevor Booker and David Potter).
Tyson became the 44th 1,000-point scorer in Clemson history at North Carolina.
Clemson finished with a 7-2 record in the month of January, the most victories in January since 1989- 90. They went 8-3 that month. The record for wins in January is 10, set in January 1987.
Hunter Tyson (27) and Chaste Hunter (26) – first teammates to score 25+ in a game since 2002.
Head Coach Brad Brownell won his 400th career game in a 72-64 win over Duke. He has 83 at UNC Wilmington, 84 at Wright State and 237 at Clemson.
The Tigers are second nationally and first in the ACC in free throw shooting (80.6 percent).
PJ Hall netted a season-high 26 points in a win over Duke (Jan. 14). He was selected as an All-ACC Preseason Second Team pick by ACC media. Hall was also named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Watch List.
Clemson won its 21st double-overtime game in program history 101-94 over Penn State in the 2022 ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Hunter Tyson (24) and PJ Hall (22) combined for 46 points in the effort.
Chase Hunter earned All-Tournament honors at the Emerald Coast Classic.
Ian Schieffelin (20pts, 14reb) and Hunter Tyson (19pts, 13reb) both netted double-doubles in the season opener. It was Schieffelin's first of his career and Tyson's second at the time.
Schieffelin set career highs in points (20) and rebounds (14) and offensive rebounds (9). His nine offensive rebounds were the most since James Mays (10 at Maryland, 1-13-07).
Brevin Galloway is one of just nine players that's at least 25 years old playing in Division I this season.
Clemson enters the Louisville game with an 11-4 record, tied for best 15 game start of the league schedule in Clemson history. The Tigers still have five conference games left, but need just one conference win to break the school record for conference wins in a season. Clemson won 11 Southern Conference games in 1951-52 (11-4) under Banks McFadden, and won 11 under Brad Brownell (11-7) in 2017-18.
Clemson got off to a school record 10-1 start in league games, the best 11-game conference start in Clemson history. This year’s team already has the best five-game league start (tied), six-game start (6-0), seven-game start (7-0), eight-game start (7-1), nine-game start (8-1) and 10-game start (9-1).

(Photo of El Ellis: Jared Anderson - Louisville Report)

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