LOUISVILLE SURVIVES CLEMSON'S LATE GAME SURGE

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The miraculous thing about history is that it repeats itself, until it doesn't. 

The No. 2 seed Louisville Cardinals narrowly escaped the No. 3 seed Clemson Tigers' second-half comeback 76-73, which nearly resembled the Cardinals' come-from-behind victory over the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal in the tournament quarterfinals. 

“This is March. Welcome to March,” Louisville senior guard J’Vonne Hadley said when asked about the highs and lows of the Cardinals’ last two games.

Thanks to Chucky Hepburn’s last second putback jumper to beat the buzzer and cap off Louisville’s 15-point comeback over the seventh-ranked Cardinal, Louisville paved its way to its first-ever ACC tournament semifinals, where they earned a date with the third-seeded Tigers. 

The Cardinals gained momentum from Hepburn’s game winner into their matchup against the Tigers, who they had already beaten 74-64 on January 10, 2025. 

Clemson got off to an early 15-10 lead, thanks to senior forward Ian Schieffelin, who tallied a quick eight points and four rebounds to give Clemson a five-point advantage. Schieffelin finished the contest with 14 points and 12 rebounds, recording the games sole double-double.

But then the Cardinals settled in. They erupted to an 11-2 run, eight of which came unanswered to take a 21-19 lead, while Clemson missed four consecutive field goals. 

Senior guard Terrence Edwards Jr. paced all scorers in the opening half with 13 points, converting on 5-of-12 of his field goals, burning a triple and grabbing three rebounds. 

Thanks to the JMU transfers' efforts, the Cardinals held a 33-28 lead entering the half, which they would expand to open the second. Edwards Jr. ended the game with a team high 21 points and snagged eight rebounds. 

After trading baskets in the opening minutes, a cold front swept through the Tigers offense. 

Clemson embarked on a 6:37-minute scoring drought, missing eight consecutive field goals and turning the ball over four times during that period. 

This helped Louisville gain a 43-34 lead until the front crept on the Cardinals. 

Maintaining a nine-point advantage, Louisville went scoreless for 3:48 minutes before Edwards Jr. ended the drought, extending the Cardinals' run to seven points. He hit two free throws on the next possession, pushing the lead back to nine. 

Louisville continued to extend its lead, and with 3:28 remaining, Hepburn sank a pair of free throws to push the Cardinals' lead to 15. 

“I was just reminding them from the six to eight-minute mark on that this is a long game,” Clemson head coach Bob Brownell said. “There's a lot of possessions left. Obviously, it didn't look good when we were down 15, but this is basketball; it's the craziness of March and basketball in general.”

But no one knew better than Louisville, that a 15-point lead is not safe in the ACC Tournament. 

Clemson senior guard Chase Hunter cut the Cardinals lead to 10 with just over two minutes remaining, nailing a pair of free throws and knocking down a contested turnaround jumper to convert after Jaiden Zackary intercepted J’Vonne Hadley’s pass. 

Hunter led all scorers with 23 points and was a key catalyst for the Tigers' comeback efforts. 

Cardinals big man James Scott slammed home an alley oop to put Louisville up 12, and then Zackary split a pair at the line with 2:11 left on the clock to cut the Tigers' deficit to 11.

It seemed Clemson would need a miracle to survive.

Chauncy Wiggins buried a triple with 1:40 remaining that lit a fire in the Tigers' offense, and shrunk Louisville's lead to eight. 

Louisville’s Aboubacar Traore went one-for-two from the charity stripe on the next possession, leaving the door open for Hunter to bury a triple to cut the lead to six. Clemson called timeout to strategize with 1:17 left in the game. 

“We just fought. We knew the game wasn't over,” Hunter said. “There was a lot of time left on the clock. We're a very gritty team, and we wanted to fight until the end.”

Out of the break, Zackary picked the pocket of Hepburn, was fouled on a fast break layup attempt, and nailed both free throws, making it a four point game, 75-71.

The next defensive possession was Hunters' turn for the Tigers, who jumped the passing lane of Edwards Jr. and drove down the court for a layup, cutting the lead to two with 54 seconds on the clock. 

Hepburn would sink a free throw to extend Louisville's lead to 76-73 – an advantage it would hold until the final buzzer, as Hunter missed a game tying three pointer with six seconds left in the game. 

“We had a chance to win the game there at the end, had a couple things maybe not go our way, but man, we just—these guys just kept fighting,“ Brownell said. 

“I want to give a lot of credit and shout-out to Clemson,” Louisville head coach Pat Kelsey said. “It's a very, very good team, a very, very well-coached team. They're tough. They're physical. We knew it was going to be a tough, physical game, and it exceeded anything that I even thought it would be.”

The Cardinals emerged victorious in the game of survival and advancement and are now set to face the top seed in the ACC and the country in the ACC title game. Louisville will tip off against the Duke Blue Devils at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, aiming to win its first-ever conference title.

“We're very fortunate to come out with the win,” Kelsey said. “Obviously, the end of the game, we have some learning moments that we could improve on as we move into tomorrow and then into next week. But at the end of the day, I'm proud of our guys, and we're fortunate to advance and have an opportunity to compete for an ACC championship tomorrow.”