By Dalton Ray —
A season-high 21 turnovers plagued men’s basketball in their 74-69 loss on the road against No. 25 Clemson. Louisville used an 8-2 run in the final four minutes to force overtime, their first this season.
Junior Ray Spalding added 16 points and 14 rebounds, but foul trouble led him to sit out a large portion of the second half.
Junior Deng Adel and sophomore VJ King committed four turnovers each and combined for 8-of-19 shooting.
Louisville held Clemson to 37 percent shooting but the Tigers went 17-for-20 from the free throw line.
U of L started the game shooting 4-for-12 while CU started 5-for-20. A low scoring game to start, Clemson led 10-9 midway through the first half.
Clemson’s biggest lead of the half, 21-15, was erased by an 8-0 Louisville run just before the end of the half.
Tied at 23 at the break, neither team had a double-digit scorer in the half.
Louisville started the second half on a 7-2 run, leading to a 30-25 lead. The Tigers knotted the game at 30 with 14:46 to play.
Spalding’s fourth foul with 10:13 put him on the bench and on the next CU possession, the Tigers took a 42-34 lead.
U of L quickly cut the lead to four, but a three put the Clemson lead at 47-40.
Trailing 53-47, Louisville scored three straight baskets and tied the game at 53 with 2:29 to play.
Tied at 55 with under a minute to play, Adel drove to the basket, but had the ball knocked away. Spalding forced the Clemson turnover, giving U of L the final shot.
Senior Quentin Snider held the ball for the final seconds, but his three was just off.
A pair of Clemson 3-pointers buried the Cardinals in overtime. With a five-point lead, Clemson iced the game with free throws.
Louisville travels to Florida State on Jan. 10.
You can follow Dalton Ray on Twitter @dray5477.
Photo by Laurel Slaughter / The Louisville Cardinal