Clemson had reason to be upset after its loss to Louisville. It wasn’t, at least not publicly. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)
Louisville will face Duke in the ACC tournament championship game. It required an adventurous couple of minutes to get there, at Clemson’s expense.
After leading by double digits for much of the second half Friday, Louisville nearly blew a lead that was as large as 11 points with less than two minutes left, eventually winning 76-73. A series of empty possessions and missed free throws opened the door for Clemson to nearly tie the game.
And then, well, the officials missed some stuff.
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With 10 seconds remaining and Louisville up 75-73, Clemson star Chase Hunter drove in an attempt to tie the game and was met by a physical presence from Louisville at the rim. And by “physical,” we mean two Louisville defenders who both made enough contact to justify a foul.
No foul was called.
Chucky Hepburn making one of two free throws on the next possession left Clemson the opportunity to send the game to overtime with a 3 with six seconds left. The Tigers again gave the ball to Hunter, who ran up the floor and put up a 3-pointer as Louisville’s Terrence Edwards Jr. met him at halfcourt.
Replay showed Edwards clearly putting hands on Hunter before he took the shot, but again, no free throws came for Clemson. Just confusion.
Louisville won the game.
Clemson was diplomatic after the game, with Hunter addressing the non-calls by saying, “That’s not up to me. I tried to make a play, and it didn’t go my way.”
Tigers head coach Brad Brownell also didn’t sound too critical over how the end of the game was called.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell postgame: “Obviously a difficult ending for us … We had a couple things not go our way, but our guys kept fighting.” Brownell says that he “loves the way we finished”
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) March 15, 2025
The loss leaves Clemson with a 27-6 record and won’t hurt its chances to make the NCAA tournament. It is a lock for March Madness, though a win over Louisville and an ACC title had it beaten a Cooper Flagg-less Duke would have probably helped in the seeding department.
