Louisville’s J’Vonne Hadley scored a career-high 32 points in leading the Cardinals to a 74-64 victory over Clemson Tuesday at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.

Hadley finished the night 10-for-12 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three-point range. He added 10 rebounds and four assists in what was a career-night for the Colorado transfer.

The loss was Clemson’s first in ACC play this season, and its ninth straight at the Yum! Center. Clemson has not won a basketball game against the Cardinals in Louisville and are 0-9 all-time there.

The Tigers (12-4, 4-1 ACC) were led by Chase Hunter’s 15 points. He also had five rebounds and three assists in a losing effort. Fellow guard Jaeden Zackery scored 12 points, while Jake Heidbreder came off the bench to add 10 points.

The Cardinals closed the first half with a 14-1 run after Clemson led 34-28 with 3:13 to play in the first half. They led 42-35 at the break.

He could not miss

Clemson had no answer for Hadley. The Louisville guard, who was averaging 10.2 points per game coming into the night and had not scored in double digits in almost a month, scored 18 first half points.

Hadley made his first six shots and first four free throws. He was 6-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from behind the arc in the first half. He was 4-for-5 from the foul line in the opening 20 minutes.

Bad Call?

With 40 seconds to play and Louisville up 40-34 in the first half, Hunter hustled to block what looked like a breakaway basket for Chucky Hepburn, who stole the ball from Zackery. Hunter was initially called for a personal foul. However, officials went to replay to see if it was a flagrant one foul.

Though replay clearly showed Hunter went for the ball and the block, the officials saw something different and called Hunter for a flagrant one, which gave the Cardinals two free throws and possession of the basketball.

Hepburn made both free throws to extend Louisville’s lead to 42-34 at the time.

It was over when

Clemson trailed the Cardinals 56-54 with 10:45 to play thanks to a Heidbreder three-pointer, as they rallied from 12 points down early in the second half. However, Louisville quickly took over the game, again.

The Cardinals (11-5, 4-1 ACC) got a three from Khani Rooths, just his sixth of the season, on their next possession. Hadley then scored the next six points as part of a 9-0 run, running the lead back to 11 points, 65-54, with 7:21 to go.

It also did not help that the Tigers missed 12 of 13 shots during that same span.

Injuries

There were no new injuries to report for either team.

Up Next

Clemson returns home on Saturday to host Florida State at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tip is set for 2 p.m.

–photo by Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images