Tigers hold off pesky Cards to set program mark for best start in ACC play

Hunter Tyson notched his fifth double-double in a row and his sixth in as many ACC games this season (Clemson photo).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Jan 11 23:23:57 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Clemson improved to 6-0 in the ACC for the first time in its long basketball history Wednesday night, but the Tigers had to fight a pesky Louisville for all 40 minutes to set the record.

Hunter Tyson accrued yet another double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds and PJ Hall scored all 10 of his points late as Clemson defeated Louisville 83-70 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Chase Hunter added 13 points and Brevin Galloway added 10 for the Tigers, who shot 52.8 percent form the field (28-53). Clemson was also 19-of-23 from the free throw line and 8-of-21 from beyond the arc. The Tigers were also whistled for a whopping 20 fouls.

Clemson improves to 14-3 overall and sits alone atop the ACC with a 6-0 record, the first time in program history the Tigers have won their first six games in league play. Louisville falls to 2-15 overall and 0-6 in ACC play. Miami is second behind Clemson with a 5-1 league record, the only other ACC team with less than two conference losses.

The win was also the 399th of head coach Brad Brownell’s coaching career.

Louisville still leads the all-time series against Clemson 8-5, but the Tigers have won three out of the last four and hold a 5-1 advantage at home.

Louisville started strong, with Brandon Huntley-Hatfield nailing a 3-pointer barely 14 seconds into the contest. The Cards eventually moved out to 5-0 lead, but the Tigers battled back to make it 7-7 after Chase Hunter drilled a short jumper off the fast break.

Louisville then went on a 9-0 run over the next four minutes to take a 16-7 lead as the Tigers tried to find a rhythm on both ends of the floor. Ian Schieffelin ended the Card run with a layup, and that sparked an 11-0 run by the Tigers over the next four minutes that was fueled by the defense. With the score tied at 16-16, Galloway stole the ball and found his way for an easy dunk on the other end as the Tigers led 18-16 with 8:50 to play in the first half.

Six minutes later Hunter hit another soft jumper on the fast break to make it 38-25 Clemson, and then Ben Middlebrooks hit a layup in the lane to put the finishing touches on a remarkable 10-minute run that saw the Tigers outscore Louisville 33-9.

The Tigers led 40-28 at intermission. Clemson had 14 points off turnovers in the half, taking advantage of four steals and forcing nine Louisville turnovers while turning in just four of their own.

The Tigers came out on fire to start the second half, with Tyson and Schieffelin each nailing 3-pointers as Clemson expanded the lead to 46-31 in the first two minutes.

Louisville refused to quit, however, and determinedly started chipping away at the Clemson lead. A 3-pointer by Jae’lyn Withers at the nine minute mark pulled the Cards within single digits at 60-51, and every time the Tigers threatened to pull away Louisville would counter with a run of its own.

The Littlejohn crowd grew restless when Kamari Lands landed a 3-pointer with 2:51 to play, pulling the Cards to within six at 72-66. Tyson quickly followed with a 3-pointer of his own, but JJ Traynor hit a layup with 1:12 left to play that made it 76-70 Clemson.

However, Hall had an old-fashioned 3-point play and Tyson hit two free throws to make it 81-70 with 36 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

The Tigers return to the court Saturday, hosting Duke at 5 pm as Brownell goes for the 400th win of his coaching career.