The Clemson men’s basketball team defeated the Louisville Cardinals by a score of 70-64 in Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday. This victory came after Clemson’s one-point loss to Duke on Saturday and provided the Tigers with their eighth home win of the season.
Throughout the first half, both the Tigers (14-6, 4-5 ACC) and the Cardinals struggled offensively, but Clemson entered halftime with a 34-22 lead following a 15-4 run to give the team momentum heading into the break. In the first 20 minutes of action, the Tigers were led by Chase Hunter and PJ Hall, who had 11 and 10 first-half points, respectively.
Head coach Brad Brownell’s squad struggled to pull down rebounds against the Cardinals as Louisville ended the half with 22, half of which were offensive, compared to Clemson’s 14 – all of which were defensive.
Clemson maintained momentum to begin the second half, opening with a 9-1 run to cushion its lead. At one point, the Tigers held a 24-point advantage over the Cardinals, though Louisville (6-15, 1-9 ACC) started chopping away late and ultimately outscored the Tigers 42-36 in the second half. Nonetheless, Clemson held on and came away with its fourth ACC win of the season.
The Tigers struggled offensively against the Cardinals, shooting 43% from the field and 24% from the 3-point line. Clemson also struggled on the glass, only pulling down four offensive rebounds, while Louisville secured a total of 21 offensive rebounds in the game.
To no surprise, the team was led by Hall, who had 25 points, five rebounds and one block for the Tigers while shooting 45% from the field. Hall now sits at 15th place in all-time points for the men’s basketball team.
With his 25-point performance, PJ Hall moved into sole possession of 15th on the Clemson all-time scoring list last night! (1,441).#ClemsonGRIT pic.twitter.com/Uyud3Ztbbm
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) January 31, 2024
Hunter was next in line with 16 points, two assists and a steal, in addition to going 5-for-8 from the field. Most notably, he scored his 1,000th career point.
“Scoring 1,000 points is something that not a lot of people do, so you know, I’m definitely honored to be a 1,000 point scorer,” he said after the game.
The Tigers’ saving grace was a strong showing on the defensive end of the court, as they forced 16 turnovers and pulled down 25 defensive rebounds, six blocks and four steals. Forward Chauncey Wiggins led the game in blocks with three. Clemson head coach Brad Brownell spoke about the defensive success of his team when speaking to the media after the game.
“Defensively, I thought we played hard,” Brownell said. “I thought we mixed in some zone tonight, which was good for us.”
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Virginia Cavaliers in Littlejohn Coliseum at 2 p.m.
