Noah Locke scored 15 points off the bench and Louisville ended a seven-game losing streak by defeating visiting Clemson 70-61 on Saturday afternoon.
This was a clash of the teams with the two longest losing streaks in the Atlantic Coast Conference. It was the Cardinals’ first victory in six games under interim coach Mike Pegues, who took over following the parting with coach Chris Mack.
Malik Williams provided 12 points and El Ellis had 11 points for Louisville (12-14, 6-10 ACC).
Al-Amir Dawes led Clemson (12-15, 4-12), which lost its sixth game in a row, with 18 points and seven rebounds in a reserve role. Naz Bohannon’s 11 points and Chase Hunter’s 10 points also aided the Tigers.
Clemson was hurt by losing team scoring leader PJ Hall, a post player, to a first-half injured left foot. He scored two points in just one minute before departing. David Collins led the Tigers with 10 rebounds.
Hall’s departure allowed Louisville’s defense to clamp down on the perimeter, holding the Tigers to 9-for-23 shooting on 3-pointers. Clemson was just 2-for-4 on foul shots.
Locke made three of Louisville’s eight 3-point baskets. Jae’Lyn Withers grabbed 10 rebounds. The Cardinals, who had 10 players score in the game, were charted with only eight turnovers.
Louisville went ahead on Williams’ basket at the 6:32 mark of the second half and never trailed again. Clemson fell behind 57-56 and went more than four minutes without scoring.
That allowed Louisville to build a 67-56 lead. By the time Dawes drained a 3-pointer for Clemson, only 54 seconds remained.
The Cardinals began to take control when they connected on four 3-point baskets in a 97-second stretch early in the second half, going up 40-31 with Ellis hitting twice along with Locke’s two 3s.
Clemson responded with a 14-5 run to tie the game at 45 on a Bohannon jumper.
Louisville led 28-27 at halftime, though an eight-point edge had vanished before the Cardinals retook the lead.
–Field Level Media
