Louisville Wastes Another Opportunity, Falls at Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. - Once again, a marquee win has escaped the grasp of the Louisville men's basketball program.

Making the trek down to Clemson after a few extra days off, the Cardinals could not take advantage of a massive opportunity against the reeling Tigers, instead leaving Littlejohn Coliseum with a 80-75 loss on Saturday.

No. 24 Louisville (20-9, 9-7 ACC) has not only lost three of their last four games, including a defeat at North Carolina this past Monday, they move to 0-8 against Quad 1A opponents this season. Meanwhile, Clemson (21-8, 11-5 ACC) snaps a four-game losing streak, and deals UofL their seventh straight loss at Littlejohn.

Yet again, the cause of death for Louisville was a poor defensive outing, consistently not keeping their man in front of them and defending by fouling.

Not only did they allow Clemson to shoot 49.0 percent from the field, but allowed them to go 24-of-34 at the free throw line - compared to just 7-of-12 themselves. By the end of the game, they UofL allowed CU - who had averaged just 65.5 points per game during their losing streak - to score their most points since falling 90-84 at Alabama on Dec. 3.

The Cardinals weren't exactly super efficient on the offensive end, either. While they shot 45.3 percent from the field, it also included a paltry 10-of-36 mark on threes, and had just 12 assists against 11 turnovers.

Four Cardinals broke double figures, led by 17 points from Adrian Wooley. Ryan Conwell finished with 15 points, J'Vonne Hadley added 12 plus a team-high seven rebounds, and Sananda Fru totaled 10 points.

Due to his lingering back injury, Mikel Brown Jr. came off the bench and played just 21 total minutes, amassing just five points and four assists in the process. Jestin Porter led Clemson with a 16-point effort.

Louisville got into a defensive rut to start this game, allowing Clemson to open up the game by hitting seven of their first 10 shot attempts. The slow pace of the Tigers allowed the Cardinals to settle in some defensively, with CU going just 5-of-15 over the half's final 11 minutes - although they still went 12-of-15 on free throws in period.

That being said, UofL certainly had some offensive inconsistencies in the first half. While they connected on five of their nine tries, they also committed four turnovers in the first eight minutes of the game. Even when they stopped coughing it up, they hit just eight of their final 21 attempts of the period, heading into halftime trailing 38-35.

When the two teams returned to action, Louisville's performance in this second half played out similarly to their second half against UNC earlier in the week. They hit just two of their first seven shots of the period, while Clemson hit five of their first eight, and that was all the momentum the home squad needed.

On either side of the floor, Cardinals never could find their footing in this period, and truly threaten to get over the hump like this did against Carolina. While they were able to hit 10 of their final 14 shots, they still were out-shot by the Tigers in this period - 16-of-34 (47.1 percent) to 12-of-24 (50 percent) - trailing by as much as 15 down the stretch.

Next up, Louisville will return to the KFC Yum! Center and face Syracuse for their final home game of the regular season. Tip-off against the Orange is scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 3 at 9:00 p.m. EST.

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