Clemson hoops makes history with upset of No. 5 Louisville
In what has been a weird college basketball season filled with upsets and unpredictability, perhaps no team has been as hot-and-cold as Clemson.
That trend continued Saturday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum as the Tigers defeated No. 5 Louisville 77-62 in front of a sold-out and rowdy arena.
Clemson (13-12, 7-8 ACC) built a double-digit lead less than seven minutes into the game and never allowed the Cardinals (21-5, 12-3) to pull to within single digits on their way to the upset.
The win over Louisville is Clemson’s second over a top 5 team this season, as the Tigers beat No. 3 Duke 79-72 in January. This marks the first time Clemson has knocked off two top five teams in the same season since 1979-80.
“Couldn’t be more proud of our guys. … Just a fantastic team win against a very good, very well-coached team that we have a lot of respect for,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “I’m just really happy for our players. Those are two big-time wins against outstanding teams with great coaches. Our guys played at an elite level tonight. The challenge is to try to sustain that, whether it’s in Littlejohn or outside.”
The win over Louisville came three days after the Tigers trounced Pittsburgh 72-52 on the road to snap a three-game losing skid.
The Tigers scored at least 72 points in the back-to-back victories after scoring 61 or fewer in the three consecutive losses prior to this week. John Newman led the way with a career-high 23 points to lead four players that scored in double figures.
“It was just crazy, for real,” Newman said of the win. “We just played a great game, honestly. I think we played a full 40. We always say full 40, play the whole game, and I think that’s what we did today.”
Clemson led by as many as 21 points in the opening minutes of the second half before Louisville went on a 13-2 run to pull to within 10, but the Tigers weathered the storm with an 11-2 run of their own to remain in control.
Tevin Mack scored 14 points and added five rebounds for the Tigers, while Aaamir Simms (13) and Clyde Trapp (10) also finished in double figures. Freshman Alex Hemenway pitched in with eight and made big shots down the stretch, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half.
“We’ve just got to finish the season on a strong note,” Simms said. “We’ve got to keep worrying about the next game... Just keep the train rolling.”
Dwayne Sutton led Louisville with 18 points, while Cardinals leading scorer Jordan Nwora was held to only five.
Louisville has now lost two consecutive games after opening the season by winning 21 of their first 24.
“I want to give credit to Clemson. I thought their team just played their tails off. I thought they were just absolutely ready to go from the very beginning,” Louisville coach Chris Mack said. “I’m not going to be able to answer a lot of your questions about our team. We’re not playing very well.... This week wasn’t a good week for our team.”
BASEBALL
Clemson clinched the weekend series against Liberty with a 1-0 victory Saturday afternoon at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, a day after beating the Flames 5-3 on Opening Day.
The Tigers can finish off the sweep of Liberty with a victory Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
Geoffrey Gilbert earned the victory in Game 1 Friday, pitching a pair of scoreless innings of relief. Elijah Henderson, Kier Meredith and Adam Hackenberg each had a pair of hits in Friday’s game.
Davis Sharpe, Keyshawn Askew and Nick Clayton combined for the shutout in Game 2, with Sharpe earning the victory. The sophomore struck out six while allowing three hits.
The only run of the game came on an RBI single by Meredith in the fifth inning.
This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 6:04 PM.
