Chucky Hepburn hit a 10-foot jumper at the buzzer to give second-seeded Louisville a 75-73 victory over seventh-seeded Stanford in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals, Thursday in Charlotte, N.C.
Hepburn’s shot came after the game appeared destined for overtime. But on a loose ball off a rebound, Hepburn caught the ball near the elbow and drained the jumper.
Hepburn scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half to help the Cardinals (26-6), ranked 13th nationally, rally from a 15-point deficit in the final 15 minutes. Hepburn also had eight assists.
Terrence Edwards Jr. scored 25 points to help spark the comeback, as Louisville won its 10th straight and for the 20th time in its last 21 games.
Facing its largest deficit against an ACC opponent this year, Louisville made 10 of its next 11 shots to quickly erase the disadvantage and set the scene for a wild finish.
It was the second time in six days that Louisville beat Stanford, following a 68-48 win at home in the regular season finale in which the Cardinal scored their season low. The script this time was much different however.
Noah Waterman supplied 12 points and nine rebounds, and James Scott added 12 points and eight boards for Louisville, which has advanced to the tournament semifinals for the first time since joining the ACC in 2014.
Oziyah Sellers scored 22 points to lead Stanford (20-13), which joined the ACC this season.
Maxime Raynaud scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half. But the 7-foot-1 center was plagued by foul trouble and eventually fouled out after playing just nine minutes in the second half.
Ryan Agarwal supplied 11 points, and Chisom Okpara added 10 points for the Cardinal who were picked to finish 17th in the 18-team league in the ACC Preseason Poll.
It was a wild second half. After Louisville erased the 15-point deficit it went on a late eight-point run to take a 73-65 lead with 1:56 left.
But Stanford answered with eight straight points as Agarwal hit a triple and Okpara made a steal and a breakaway three-point play to tie it 73-all with 32 seconds left, setting the scene for Hepburn’s game winner.
After Waterman opened the game with a pair of 3-pointers, Stanford scored the next nine points as Reynaud broke the ice with a pair of layups and Sellers added a triple.
From there, neither team led by more than four points in a half that included six ties and seven lead changes.
Closing the period by hitting 8 of 10 shots including 3-pointers by four different players, Stanford grabbed a 33-30 lead at the break.
It was the first time this year that Louisville trailed at the half in an ACC game and a departure from when the teams met five days earlier when Stanford trailed by 15 points at intermission.
–Field Level Media
