Tigers Back on the Road

Coach Brad Brownell is 6-6 vs Louisville as Tigers Head Coach. (Photo By: Charles Mays)

Clemson returns to road play in Kentucky against the Louisville Cardinals on Tuesday, January 7th. This will be the Tigers first road contest since December 17th where they lost to South Carolina in overtime 91-88. The Cardinals are coming off of an abysmal season in which they finished the year 8-24 (3-17) and they then fired their second year Head Coach Kenny Payne. Louisville hired former College of Charleston Head Coach Pat Kelsey and have started this season with more wins than last year already going 10-5 (3-1). This season they have a completely new look as Kelsey has reconstructed their entire roster. Leading this squad is the former Wisconsin Badger Guard, Chucky Hepburn. The Senior has taken a huge step this season averaging his career high in almost every statistical category. Hepburn has averaged 15.5 pts/g, 5.5 asts/g, 3.3 rbs/g, and 2.5 stls/g. He is the current leader in steals in the ACC so far this season beating out one of our Tigers, Jaeden Zackery. Clemson has to maintain ball control to win this game or Hepburns’ fast paced defense will end up upsetting the Tigers. The Tigers have struggled with turnovers at times this season, but will need an “A” worthy performance to win on the road. Helping out Hepburn score the ball are fellow Senior Guards Terrence Edwards Jr. and Reyne Smith. Edwards is almost an everyday starter while Smith coming off the bench, both guys still average around 13-14 points/g. Edwards is a former James Madison Duke who has taken a step back since last season; however, Reyne Smith followed his Head Coach and is taking another step up in his career. Due to an injury to starting Forward Kasean Pryor, a lot of the rebounding duties have fallen on the entire roster, but 6' 6" Senior Guard J’Vonne Hadley has stepped up. Hadley averages 7.7 rebounds/g which leads the Cardinals, and since Pryor’s injury he has averaged almost 9 per game. While Louisville has the height within the paint, they have struggled to have good consistent production from their big men this season. Senior Noah Waterman and Sophomore James Scott receive most of the minutes for the big men on the roster and while both guys are 6' 11", neither player averages over 8 pts/g and 6 rbs/g. If Viktor Lakhin is healthy, the Tigers need to attack the paint and control the boards against the struggling Cardinal big men.

Viktor Lakhin during Clemson vs Stanford game. (Photo: Charles Mays)

Clemson is going on the road for an expected let down spot this week against a battle tested Louisville team. The last time Clemson played a team with many dynamic Guards like the Cardinals they fell in overtime against Memphis at home. Louisville currently ranks 39th in the NET Rankings making this contest a Quad 1 opportunity for the Tigers. Clemson is coming into this on a three game win streak, hoping to continue their undefeated record in ACC play. However, in true road games Clemson has struggled this season going 1-2. The Tigers’ star Chase Hunter has been playing great basketball for the past few weeks, and his development as a scorer has opened up the offense for Clemson. On true road games this season, Chase Hunter averages 25 points per game despite the Tigers’ road record. Coach Brownell and his squad are walking into a hostile environment against a very physical and fast Louisville defense, so Chase Hunter will have to continue his great road performances to lead this roster to four straight wins. Outside of Chase Hunter, expect the Tigers to rely heavily on Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lakhin, depending on his health. As mentioned, the Cardinals have struggled to get good production from their frontcourt because of an injury to one of their Forwards. Schieffelin was terrific in both of the last road contests, getting a double-double in both games, and the Tigers will need that level of performance against Louisville as a team that rebounds by committee. Viktor Lakhin will also play a vital role in slowing down the Cardinals scoring within the paint while also limiting second chance opportunities. However, Coach Brownell will also need his Guards to play effective defense against these Guards to secure a win. Clemson struggled against the similarly built Memphis squad as they lost 87-82 in overtime, turning it over 13 times. Will the Tigers be able to guard the dynamic Cardinal Guards and protect the ball or will they fall for the first time in ACC play?

If you want to catch the game on TV, it will be televised on ESPNU at 7:00 PM EST.