By Will Vandervort.

Clemson played much harder against No. 5 Louisville on Wednesday than it did against No. 18 North Carolina last Saturday, but unfortunately for the Tigers the end result was the same.

Thanks to a 17-0 Louisville run the start the second half, the Cardinals took down a pesky Clemson team 58-52 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

The Tigers trailed by just two points with 6:07 to play when Jaron Blossomgame drove the lane and kissed a shot off the glass. But from there Clemson went cold, missing three straight shots, while turning the ball over two times which allowed the Cardinals to seal the victory at the free throw line.

Clemson (8-6, 0-2 ACC) led 22-18 at the break as it controlled the tempo and really frustrated a bigger Louisville team. Forward Montrezl Harrell missed all but five minutes of the first half when he picked up two early fouls that kept him on the bench.

The Cardinals (14-1, 2-0 ACC) struggled with Harrell out of the game as they shot just 22 percent from the field, including 2 of 14 from three-point range. The Tigers were also able to outrebound the Cardinals 23-16 and had eight offensive rebounds to Louisville’s seven.

Demarcus Harrison, who scored nine of his 12 points in the opening half, followed a Blossomgame three-pointer with one of his own to give Clemson a 20-16 lead with 2:50 to play in the first half. The Tigers closed the first-half scoring with a Jordan Roper dunk thanks to a nice pass from point guard Rod Hall.

But all that hard work quickly went out the window as the Cardinals came out in the second half with renewed energy on the defensive side of the floor. They held Clemson without a basket in the first seven minutes of the half as the Tigers missed their first eight shots.

While Clemson was missing, the Cardinals were making it seemed like everything. After having just six field goals the entire first half, they made six of their first 10 shots to start the second half. Guard Chris Jones scored 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, while point guard Terry Rozier finished the night with 15 points and four assists.

Harrell’s energy early in the second half sparked the Cardinals’ 17-0 run to start the second half that gave them control of the game at 35-22. Harrell finished the game with six points and six rebounds – all in the second half.

Clemson battled back several times in the second half. Blossomgame and Harrison made back-to-back threes to finally answer the Louisville run and then Hall’s driving layup with 10:12 to go cut the deficit to four points at 36-32.

After Louisville quickly upped the lead to 10 points thanks to two Jones’ three-pointers, the Tigers slowly crawled back into the game again. Hall, who scored nine points, had four assists and grabbed six rebounds, made three free throws, while freshman Donte Grantham drained a three-pointer.

Blossomgame then followed with a hard drive to the basket with 6:07 to go to cut the Cardinals’ lead to two points, 42-40. Blossomgame finished the night with 15 points and recorded nine rebounds.

Clemson will continue its tough schedule to open the ACC season on Saturday when it travels to Pittsburgh to play the Panthers. Tip is set for noon.