Louisville took care of business against the Tigers earlier this season, with a 75-64 victory on January 7th behind a 32 point performance by J’Vonne Hadley.
On the Clemson front Chase Hunter had 15 points, and Ian Schieffelin notched a double double in the loss. Louisville was one of only two ACC schools to take care of business against the Tigers this season. Historically, Louisville holds the head to head edge, as Clemson is 6-10 against the Cardinals, dating back to 1973.
The Tigers are coming off a gritty 57-54 quarterfinal victory over 6 seed SMU. The game marked the 9th time Clemson held an ACC opponent to under 60 points this season. In the matchup, Chase Hunter shined with 21 points and 3 blocks on 7/13 shooting. The effort allowed the 6th year senior to surpass Jaron Blossomgame as Clemson’s 5th all time leading scorer. Jaeden Zachary dazzled as well, with 11 points and 3 steals on 4/8 shooting. The transfer senior has experience taking over in tournament play, with his career high (22) coming last season against Clemson in the first round of the ACC tournament.
Along with Hunter and Zackary, Clemson’s frontcourt has been dominant. Seniors Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lahkin have boasted a combined 24 points and 15 rebounds this season, both shooting above 50% from the field. The two are large contributors to Clemson’s dominant defense, holding opponents to just 65.3 points per game, which ranks 22nd in the nation.
For Louisville, the prowess comes in the backcourt. The Cardinals are headlined by ACC defensive player of the year Chucky Hepburn, who’s coming off a 20 point and 8 assist performance in the Cardinals quarterfinal win over Stanford. The guard leads the team in scoring this season, averaging 16.4 points, 6 assists and 2.5 steals. Alongside Chucky is guard Terrance Edwards Jr, coming off a 25 point performance on thursday. The senior averages 16.1 ppg this season.
Clemson ranks third all time with 15 double digit victories in ACC play this season. A win allows the Tigers to extend their program record 18 ACC wins, and 8 consecutive victories. With a win, Clemson has the opportunity to break the program record for most wins on the court in a season, with 27.
The winner tonight will advance to the ACC championship, and play the victor of the Duke-UNC matchup Saturday at 8:30pm EST. Clemson holds the head to head edge over both opponents, defeating each team to help kick off their historic win streak.
