Clemson badly needed a bounce-back win after the gut-wrenching loss at Duke, and that is exactly what they got as the Tigers held off Louisville 70-64 Tuesday night inside Littlejohn Coliseum.
It took the Tigers a little while to get it going, but Clemson would wind up ending the first half on a 14-3 run, turning what was a close game early into a 34-22 lead at halftime.
The Tigers then scored the first nine points of the second half, pushing the lead to 19 at 43-22, eventually pushing it to 24 at 55-31 with just over 12 minutes remaining.
The Cardinals would battle back, using a 26-7 run to pull within six at 62-56 with 3:35 to play. Back-to-back buckets by PJ Hall would then push the lead back to 10 at 66-56 with just under two minutes remaining. Hall would then foul out with 1:28 left.
The Cardinals would cut it to four with 28.6 seconds to play, but Chauncey Wiggins would drain two free throws to push the lead back to six at 68-62 with 24.7 seconds left.
Louisville would then pull to within four, but Joe Girard would hit both of his free throw attempts with 12.9 left to push it back to six and that is how it would end.
Both teams struggled from the perimeter, with Clemson shooting just 24% from three, while Louisville was even worse, going just 2-for-20.
Hall led the way for the Tigers, scoring 25 points, while pulling down five rebounds.
Chase Hunter, who came in shooting just 24% from behind the 3-point line, scored 16, hitting on two of his three shots from beyond the arc, while Girard pitched in with 13, going 2-for-6 from deep.
Tre White had a season-high 26 points for the Cardinals. Louisville also dominated the boards, outrebounding the Tigers 48-29, with 21 coming on the offensive end. Clemson had just four offensive boards all night. The Cards had 17 second chance points to just two for the Tigers.
Clemson improves to 14-6 overall and 4-5 in ACC play, while Louisville drops to 6-15 and 1-9.
The Tigers are back in action on Saturday, as Virginia comes to town. Tipoff is scheduled for 2pm inside Littlejohn Coliseum and it will be televised on ESPN.
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