CHARLOTTE – Terrence Edwards Jr.’s 21 points and J’Vonne Hadley’s 20 were enough as No. 13 Louisville frustrated No. 10 Clemson’s cold-shooting offense in a 76-73 victory in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinal Friday night.
Advancing to its first ACC title game, second-seeded Louisville will meet No. 1 Duke (30-3), the top seed and a 74-71 winner against North Carolina in the first semifinal, in Saturday night’s championship.
Chucky Hepburn had 12 points and Louisville (27-6) needed a defensive play to seal the outcome after Clemson roared back in the final few minutes.
Chase Hunter led third-seeded Clemson (27-6) with 23 points. Viktor Lakhin and Ian Schieffelin both tallied 14 and Jaeden Zackery had 11 for the Tigers, who shot 39.1 percent from the field compared to 43.6 percent for the Cardinals.
Down 69-54 with 3:28 remaining, Clemson made a charge by scoring 11 points in a span of 1:08 to close within 75-71 and got the ball back on Hunter’s steal. He scored on a drive with 54 seconds left to pull the Tigers within 75-73 before another Louisville turnover.
But the Cardinals’ Aboubacar Traore blocked Hunter’s potential tying shot on a drive. Hepburn made a free throw for the final score before Hunter misfired on a desperation final attempt.
The Cardinals scored nine straight points in the second half while Clemson was in a drought of nearly seven minutes, creating a 47-34 advantage.
Louisville didn’t score at a rapid clip, but Clemson’s inability to make a run allowed the Cardinals to maintain a double-digit lead for much of the second half. Hadley made two free throws with 5:27 left for a 62-49 lead.
Clemson was up 15-8 less than eight minutes into the game, but Louisville held a 33-28 edge at the break. The Tigers, who were 1-for-6 on 3-pointers in the half, were held to two points across the final 3 1/2 minutes before halftime.
Lakhin and Schieffelin combined to shoot 9-for-15 in the first half, but the rest of the Tigers were a combined 4-for-17.
Clemson has defeated 16 of the ACC’s other 17 teams this season, with the exception being Louisville.
–Bob Sutton, Field Level Media
