By Harry Barsan

No. 13 Louisville escaped the No. 10 Clemson Tigers in the ACC semifinals after a questionable no-call on the final play of the game.

The Cards had to deal with their second blown lead in as many games, but they still found a way to weather the storm to advance to the ACC championship.

Out-of-timeout magic

J’Vonne Hadley got off to a bad start, turning the ball over on the first two possessions for Louisville. Luckily, it only led to one layup from Chase Hunter.

Chucky Hepburn got the Cards on the board to tie up the game at two apiece.

However, Clemson simply won in the paint early on, at one point scoring in basically the same fashion on three straight possessions. As a result, they surged to a 8-15 lead on some effective rebounding and shooting early.

But after a Louisville timeout Clemson lost their spark. The Cards went on a 10-2 run to reclaim the lead 18-17, shared evenly by a few buckets from James Scott and Terrence Edwards Jr.

The game was back-and-forth for a while, but a three-pointer from Hadley broke the game wide open.

The shot only tied the game, but it sparked a 10-0 run to end the first half for the Cards.

All of the sudden, Louisville led 33-28 at the half.

Cardiac Cards and then some

To start the second, Noah Waterman scored to extend the Louisville-run to 12-0.

Jaeden Zackery finally broke the run with an and-1, but Waterman would just match it with a triple of his own.

Clemson banged their second three of the game right after, but the Cards would rattled off a 9-0 run over almost seven minutes. Louisville had complete control of the game.

Ian Schieffelin broke Clemson’s dry spell with consecutive shots in the paint, but Louisville’s offense was too hot and kept matching the Tigers.

While play wasn’t much different between halves, fouls picked up big time out of the break. Only four free throws were shot in the entire first, yet it seemed like you couldn’t go a minute without at least a whistle blowing.

While players on both side began to enter into foul trouble, Louisville was the bigger beneficiary by getting to the line and cashing in on free points.

Clemson tried to draw within striking distance, but Louisville would not be deterred. A steal and an outlet pass from Hepburn got Khani Rooths a breakaway dunk to put the Cards up by 13 points.

Hadley then scored seven straight for Louisville to put them up 67-52 with just under four minutes to go.

Even after Hadley’s run, the Tigers were locked in. Hunter attacked the rim non-stop, drawing fouls and scoring at the line.

After the Tigers cut the lead to 10, Waterman picked up his fifth and final foul.

Louisville kept scoring and getting to line, but many of their trips to the charity stripe down the stretch only netted them one point. This let Hunter sprint back down the court and cut into the lead with a simple layup.

Following a made three, Clemson began the full-court press and the foul-fest. Scott then went 1-of-2 from the line and Hunter nailed another three to cut the lead down to six.

Then an inbound to Hepburn saw him get trapped in the corner, lose the ball and foul Zackery on a really bad play. Zackery was then sent to the line and cut the lead down to four.

On the next inbound, the Tigers stole it yet again, scored a bucket and suddenly the lead was just two points with less than a minute left on the clock.

The Tigers called off the press and defended straight up. Louisville ran the clock down, and on a drive to the basket a jump ball was called with just three seconds left on the shot-clock. Louisville was forced to inbound and quickly force up a shot, but it failed to hit the rim and Clemson got the ball back with under 30 seconds.

With a chance to tie or take the lead, Hunter got Scott switched onto him and drove down the lane. He chucked up a layup that was blocked by Aboubacar Traore.

After Hepburn was fouled, he made only one of two free throws. Edwards tried to foul to prevent the heave, but accidentally got Hunter while he was in the act of shooting a three. But no foul was called and the last-second shot fell short.

The Cards survived and advanced, beating Clemson 76-73.

Just keep swimming

You might want to take Saturday’s game off if you’re faint of heart.

In what seemed to be a laissez-faire reffing night morphed into a free throw heavy night for both teams. There were a whopping 42 second-half free throws compared to just four in the first, and seven different players (including six starters) picked up four-plus fouls.

The Cards got the better of this overall, going 22-of-27 compared to the Tigers’ 14-of-17 night from the line. Yet almost none of that seemed to matter late, as most of Louisville’s misses were down the stretch.

The Cards couldn’t quite neutralize Hunter when it mattered most, as he went off late on back-to-back big time scores to end up with 23 points. However, he couldn’t shoulder enough of the weight, still going an inefficient 8-of-20 from the field.

Edwards showed how he can really be a top option with a team-leading 21 points on a perfect 8-of-8 night from the line.

However, it was Hadley who nearly outdid him with 20 (15 of which came in the second) but on nearly half the shots, picking up a team-high nine boards as well.

While Chucky wasn’t stellar with shooting, he still stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, six steals, five assists and five rebounds.

In consecutive games, Louisville has blown late leads in a flash. While this is extremely concerning going forward, it’s that time of year when you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

Louisville has advanced to their first ever ACC championship appearance and has won multiple games in the ACC tournament for the first time ever.

With a record of 27-6, Pat Kelsey officially becomes the winningest coach in their first season on Louisville history.

The Cards have also won 19 more games than the pervious season, which ties the ACC record and is one win away from tying the all-time record in college basketball.

Photo Courtesy // Mallory Peak, Louisville Athletics