March Madness is here, people. Louisville basketball is coming off a thrilling victory in the quarterfinals against Stanford. The Cardinals come back from 15 points in the second half and a game-winner at the buzzer from star guard Chucky Hepburn. After a slow and sluggish 30-point first half, they roared back and dropped 45 points in the second half.
The star duo of Chucky Hepburn and Terrence Edwards Jr. helped lead Louisville basketball in the comeback. Hepburn did not shoot the best from behind the arc, but his exceptional guard skills came into play, and he dished out eight assists. Edwards was 9-14 from the field and put up 25 points. The unsung hero in this game was forward Noah Waterman. He was starting in place of injured Reyne Smith. Waterman had 12 points and nine rebounds, along with three 3-pointers.
Series History
This game will be a rematch of their matchup in January. Louisville basketball defeated Clemson in that matchup in Littlejohn Coliseum. J'Vonne Hadley was the star of the show that night. He scored 32 points, 10 rebounds, and nine threes. Louisville has the series history lead over Clemson.
Game Time
Friday, March 14, 9:30 p.m. local time on ESPN/ESPN2
Charlotte, NC, at the Spectrum Center
Final Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Favorite: Clemson @ -1.5
Moneyline: Clemson -115
Over/Under: 141.5
What to know
Clemson is playing their best basketball right now, losing just one game after their loss to Louisville basketball at the beginning of the year. During this stretch of wins, the Tigers beat SMU twice, with the most recent quarterfinals win, North Carolina and an upset over the Duke Blue Devils. Clemson is winning games behind their lockdown defense. The Tigers have the second-best defense in the ACC, allowing only 64 points.
Prediction
Louisville basketball will take down Clemson for the second time this season. Hepburn and Edwards Jr. will no doubt play better this time around. The duo averages a combined 32 points. They only scored a total of 14 points and shot 3-21 from the field. Expect this duo to get back to their ways and score 30-plus as a duo. They put up a total of 45 points in their quarterfinals win.
Louisville basketball has to be careful, as they had to make a comeback against a Stanford team that went 11-9 in conference, and they just beat them by 20 points last week. The Cardinals came out slow against Stanford. Expect them to come out to a fast start and fix their early-game woes from their last-round game.
With the recent injury of Duke's star, Cooper Flagg, and the unknown status of it. The ACC is Louisville basketball's to lose.