How it happened: Louisville shoots itself into loss at Clemson
Louisville’s recent road slides against top competition continued on Saturday with an 80-75 loss at Clemson.
The Cardinals are now 3-5 away from home in ACC play and, with two games left in the regular season, are at risk of dropping to the eight or nine seed in the conference tournament next season.
Pat Kelsey’s team hung around with a desperate Tigers squad that had lost four consecutive games coming in and trailed by just three at halftime. After the break, the Tigers scored a quick 10 points while the Cards missed five consecutive threes out of an 11-miss streak. From that point on, Clemson controlled the game’s pace and dictated it with its frontcourt and physicality around the basket.
Sophomore guard Adrian Wooley started in place of freshman star Mikel Brown Jr (back), who struggled off the bench. Brown scored just five points, was 2-of-10 from the floor, and 0-of-6 from distance. Wooley put together a strong effort, ending the game on an impressive surge. He scored a Louisville team-best 17 points on better than 50 percent shooting. Wooley’s three makes from beyond the arc tied an ACC-best as it was the Tuscoloosa native’s first double-figure scoring game since Jan. 17 against Pittsburgh.
Other Cardinals in double-figures include Ryan Conwell (15), J’Vonne Hadley (12), and Sananda Fru (10). Overall, Louisville shot 36 of its 64 shots from beyond the arc and only made 27.8 percent of them. Kelsey’s team eventually outscored the Tigers 36-28 in the paint, but a more poised, consistent attacking approach gave Clemson 34 free throw attempts, 24 of which were made.
Clemson had seven players score eight or more points and was led by Jestin Porter, who made four triples and added 16 points. Forward RJ Godfrey was a problem, scoring nine of his 13 points in the first half. Godfrey also led all starters with seven rebounds.
In all, Louisville was extremely inefficient offensively on Saturday, with two streaks of 10+ misses from deep. Couple that with the Cardinals being the first team since Alabama on Dec. 3 to allow at least 80 points to Clemson, and Louisville had an uphill battle.
The 24th-ranked Cardinals now fall to 9-7 in ACC play and will host Syracuse on Tuesday to wrap up the 2025-26 home calendar.
Don’t miss out on Cardinal Sports +
- Our premium community forums
- A full year of access to The Athletic
- Get a fast start on finding out breaking news and behind-the-scenes details.
- In-depth Louisville basketball and football analysis
- On3 and Rivals national membership
Join the discussion at Cardinal Sports.
