Louisville basketball aims to declaw upset-minded Clemson

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 04: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals dribbles the ball against the Florida State Seminoles at KFC YUM! Center on January 04, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - JANUARY 04: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals dribbles the ball against the Florida State Seminoles at KFC YUM! Center on January 04, 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Louisville basketball will return to action on Saturday against an upset-minded Clemson Tigers team coming off a few major victories.

It’s been an interesting few weeks for the Louisville basketball program as they’ve fully immersed themselves in ACC play. While the Cards have won five games in a row, and look like a program on the rise, the way a few of the games have gone has left a weird taste in the mouth of Louisville fans hoping to see their team make a deep tournament run.

A win in ACC play is a win and with the Cardinals sitting at 16-3 (7-1) and tied for first place, things are looking really good for where we are in the season. The question of how this team, in particular, will handle success is something that remains to be seen, coming off of five straight wins including a huge win over Duke on the road.

We hoped to see an energized Louisville team against Georgia Tech, and for the majority of that game, we didn’t. Chris Mack’s squad eventually would regain the lead late in the second half after trailing the majority of the game, moving it into double-digits before once again letting things slip away.

Thanks to a big performance down the stretch from Malik Williams, Louisville pulled out a win. But as Chris Mack said in his post-game conference, it shouldn’t take getting down in the final moments to make a team wake up.

Louisville will have another challenging matchup this weekend as the Clemson Tigers come to the KFC Yum! Center for the first of two matchups this season. Following an average start to the season the Tigers are coming off of a 4-1 stretch that saw them upset North Carolina and Duke.

Despite losing a ton of talent over the last two seasons, Brad Brownell’s team has been fairly competitive this season and has already proven the ability to spring an upset. Another blah performance for the Cards on Saturday may lead to a rather unfavorable outcome if Clemson plays the way they have been as of late.


Gameday Central:

Who: Louisville Cardinals (16-3) (7-1) vs. Clemson Tigers (10-8) (4-4)

When: Saturday, January 25th at 2:00 PM EST

Where: KFC Yum! Center

TV: ACC Network Extra (Fox Sports South)

Radio: 790 WKRD

Spread check: TBA

Streaks: Louisville W5, Clemson W1

Last matchup: Saturday, February 16th – Louisville 56, Clemson 55