The men’s Clemson basketball team (13-6, 3-5 ACC) will host the Louisville Cardinals (6-14, 1-8 ACC) at Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday night.
Being 2-2 across their last four games, the Tigers are hoping to get back on track with a win on Tuesday, facing a Louisville squad that has only won two of their last ten games.
However, college basketball fans have seen slumps after huge games. Clemson is coming off of a heartbreaking loss in Durham, North Carolina, where they played Duke. The Blue Devils hit two free throws in the final second to rip the hearts out of Clemson fans and their squad, making it their fifth loss in the ACC.
“We have a quick turnaround Tuesday, we’ve got a hard game against Louisville and tomorrow we have got to get past it,” head coach Brad Brownell said after Saturday’s tough loss. “This will be hard. This one stings, there’s no question.”
After being down six points in the first half, the effort that the team showed on Saturday afternoon will hope to be matched, as Clemson outscored the Blue Devils by five points in the second frame. With great three-point shooting and post efforts all around the floor, the offense that Brownell saw in the contest presents some optimism for upcoming weeks.
Returning home is essential for the Tigers, who suffered another heartbreaking loss in their last visit to Littlejohn Coliseum. The team suffered a double-overtime loss to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and will hope that an outcome like the one previously does not occur again.
Clemson has the capability to take over in this game, especially offensively. Louisville ranks last in the ACC in points per game, allowing 80.3 per contest. The Cardinals also give up the second-best three-point percentages to opponents with teams shooting just under 40% on them.
Well, it could be a high-scoring affair, no matter what. The team that gives up the best three-point percentages to opponents, Clemson, with teams shooting 40.4% against them.
A team that did so well in shooting the deep ball early, Brownell will hope to get players like Joe Girard III and PJ Hall hot from downtown. The two hit key threes against Duke this past weekend and will hope these successes will continue.
The Tigers will also get combo guard Alex Hemenway back for Louisville. Brownell said that the graduate player was “available” against Duke, but he decided to save his return for this week.
“I don’t know if he’s quite ready, but he was available in terms of the trainer saying he could play a few minutes if I wanted him too.” Brownell added.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are having a season to forget in the conference. After beginning the year 4-3, a disappointing 2-11 followed, taking only one out of nine in the conference. Their only win is quite impressive, however, as they defeated the Miami Hurricanes in Coral Gables by nine points.
What is interesting about Louisville is their ability for many different players to score. Five different players average double digits this season. Leading the Cardinals in scoring is sophomore Mike James. The guard averages 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, shooting an impressive 42.5% from the field.
Head coach Kenny Payne has two other guards who follow closely behind on the score sheet as well. In his first season with the Cardinals, sophomore Skyy Clark scores 13.2 points and dishes three assists per night. USC transfer Tre White averages 12.2 points and five rebounds per game as well. Brownell will need to look out for this guard trio if he wants to leave Tuesday night with a win in their column, which could be vital with the games occurring later this season.
Tipoff is set for 9:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.
