By Harry Barsan

The Cardinals host the Clemson Tigers in an important conference matchup.

Clemson is sitting at 12-3 and fresh of a trip all the way to the Elite Eight last year before losing to Alabama.

While the Cards have won four-straight, Clemson is on a 9-2 tear since a November loss to Boise State, with both losses coming in overtime.

Blue collar

Like Brad Brownell teams have come to be recognized for, Clemson is led by their defense.

The Clemson defense is good at hammering down assist heavy offenses and keeping players in front of them.

High powered offenses such as Penn State and Kentucky, who rank top-15 in assists per game, combined for 29 turnovers in their losses to Clemson. While both teams are top-10 in points per game, neither team even cracked 70 against the Tigers.

Center Viktor Lakhin carries most of the weight in the paint. He averages 1.9 blocks per game, leading the ACC.

He along with Ian Schieffelin account for nearly half of the team’s total rebounds, although rebounding is not this team’s strength.

Overall, Clemson’s defense doesn’t stand out in any areas, but there aren’t any holes. The worst part of the Tigers defense is the interior, so look to see Louisville force the issue inside.

If Louisville falls in love with the three-point shot, it could be a long day for the Cards.

Two sides of a very symmetrical coin

Clemson is a very curious case offensively, and it’s unsure whether the Tigers have even figured themselves out.

While they shoot neither of them especially often, Clemson is a solid free throw and three-point shooting team, both ranked top-32 in efficiency.

Much of this is thanks to their guard, Chase Hunter, who’s having a stellar 6th-year at Clemson. He’s shooting 88% on free throws and a team-leading 42.2% from deep.

Boston College-transfer Jaeden Zackery is the team’s best facilitator with 3.3 assists a game, and has some sneaky athleticism to help get to the rim when needed.

Hunter is the team’s leading scorer with 17.3 PPG while Schieffelin is averaging a 13.6-point, 10.8-rebound double-double.

Similarly to their defense, Clemson doesn’t excel in any areas but the are very steady.

The worst area of Clemson’s offense is their interior presence, but that’s more so just because there’s a bit of a drop-off from Schieffelin to Chauncey Wiggins. Perhaps the best approach for Louisville is to attempt to get Schieffelin in foul trouble as early as possible, and hope the Tigers don’t have the man-power to keep up.

The red hot Cardinals look primed to take on this Clemson team after their performances over the last week. Louisville has been shooting well recently and haven’t been outrebounded since the Kentucky game.

They can rely on one-on-one play from their players like Chucky Hepburn or can get things going from deep if it’s one of those nights.

The two will face off in the KFC Yum! Center Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Photo Courtesy // Mallory Peak, Louisville Athletics