PREVIEW: Louisville vs. Clemson

Mark BlankenbakerJanuary 9, 2016

Location: Bon Secours Wellness Arena (15,951) Greenville, SC
Game Time: 12:05 p.m., 1-10-2016
Line: Louisville -8.5
Series History: Louisville leads 4-0 (1-0 in Clemson)
Last Time: Louisville 58, Clemson 52 (1-7-2015 in Louisville)
TV: Regional Sports Network (Fox Sports South) – Bob Rathbun, Mike Gminski
Louisville Radio: 840 WHAS with Paul Rogers and Bob Valvano, Sirius 81, XM 81
Game Officials: Brian Dorsey, Mike Eades, Brian O’Connell

Prediction

Clemson is still playing a deliberate brand of basketball, but they have opened up their pace some over last year’s team. Even so, this will be a ballgame that really prioritizes possessions. If Louisville turns the ball over or misses Free Throws Clemson may have a chance late in the ballgame to mount a comeback. But this is a game that Louisville should win on the road, Clemson Football plays for the National Championship in Arizona Monday Night and the fanbase will either be in Phoenix or their minds will be elsewhere…..more than ever.

The Tigers have a really respectable defense and also rebound the ball better than most teams UofL has played this year. The problem with Clemson is that they just don’t score easily enough to keep pace with the Cards, which is why their style is the smart decision. Jordan Roper, Clemson’s Point Guard, recently had 10 assists in a 1 point win over Syracuse. Also Jaron Blossomgame and Landry Nnoko had 20 & 19 points respectively. Clemson has players, but like NC State they do have a short bench…and that’s a problem against the Cards.

Louisville 73, Clemson 61

Team Stats

	Louisville	Clemson
Strength of Schedule (KenPom)	279th	245th
Points Per Game	83.2 (20th)	69.8 (218th)
Avg Scoring Margin	+24.9 (1st)	+7.6 (69th)
Field Goal %	50.8% (6th)	43.8% (146th)
2-point FG%	55.5% (20th)	49.1% (142nd)
3-point FG%	38.6% (37th)	36.1% (104th)
Free Throw %	67.9% (216th)	69.6% (162nd)
Rebound Rate	58.9% (3rd)	52.5% (89th)
Blocks Per Game	5.3 (33rd)	5.7 (16th)
Steals Per Game	7.7 (43rd)	4.9 (290th)
Assists Per Game	13.9 (126th)	14.7 (90th)
Turnovers Per Game	11.3 (44th)	10.6 (21st)
Opponent Turnovers Per Game	15.1 (46th)	11.5 (280th)
Team Fouls Per Game	19.0 (135th)	16.7 (22nd)
Opponent Shooting %	36.3% (5th)	40.6% (67th)
Opponent 2-point FG%	39.1% (4th)	44.0% (52nd)
Opponent 3-point FG%	31.3% (53rd)	34.4% (178th)
Opponent Block Per Game	2.9 (82nd)	2.3 (18th)
Opponent Steals Per Game	5.3 (62nd)	5.5 (72nd)

	*351 teams Play Division 1

Projected Starters

	Trey Lewis	Jordan Roper
	6-2, 190, Sr.	6-1, 165, Sr.
Minutes	28.1	30.5
Points	14.3	9.0
Field Goal %	49.30%	36.4%
3-point %	45.50%	36.5%
FT %	83.30%	81.8%
Rebounds	3.6	2.3
Assists	2.4	4.0
Steals	1.0	1.1
Blocks	0.1	0.1
Turnovers	1.9	1.3
Fouls	1.7	1.1

	Donovan Mitchell	Avry Holmes
	6-3, 210, Fr.	6-2, 195, Jr.
Minutes	20.3	30.3
Points	8.5	10.3
Field Goal %	47.30%	42.30%
3-point %	25.70%	43.10%
FT %	81.50%	69.80%
Rebounds	4.3	2.5
Assists	2.0	2.9
Steals	1.1	0.6
Blocks	0.1	0.0
Turnovers	0.9	1.6
Fouls	2.8	2.0

	Damion Lee	Jaron Blossomgame
	6-6, 200, Sr.	6-7, 220, Jr.
Minutes	30.2	31.0
Points	17.6	15.3
Field Goal %	49.4%	51.9%
3-point %	38.2%	39.4%
FT %	89.6%	72.4%
Rebounds	4.0	6.9
Assists	1.6	1.3
Steals	1.6	0.7
Blocks	0.0	1.5
Turnovers	1.4	1.3
Fouls	1.8	2.0

	Jaylen Johnson	Donte Grantham
	6-9, 215, Soph	6-8, 210, Soph
Minutes	16.1	31.2
Points	5.4	9.7
Field Goal %	50.7%	39.10%
3-point %	0.0%	33.80%
FT %	42.9%	80.00%
Rebounds	3.9	4.1
Assists	0.6	2.5
Steals	0.4	0.6
Blocks	0.4	0.6
Turnovers	0.6	1.7
Fouls	1.9	1.7

	Chinanu Onuaku	Landry Nnoko
	6-10, 230, Soph	6-10, 255, Sr.
Minutes	21.9	22.1
Points	9.6	8.9
Field Goal %	62.9%	58.7%
3-point %	0.0%	0.0%
FT %	52.0%	60.5%
Rebounds	8.2	5.8
Assists	1.1	1.3
Steals	0.8	0.3
Blocks	2.0	2.4
Turnovers	1.7	1.3
Fouls	2.5	2.7

Bench

	Quentin Snider	Gabe DeVoe
	6-1, 180, Soph	6-3, 205, Soph
Minutes	27.7	20.3
Points	9.2	5.9
Field Goal %	40.3%	30.00%
3-point %	38.1%	32.70%
FT %	73.9%	76.20%
Rebounds	2.3	3.2
Assists	4.0	1.3
Steals	0.9	0.5
Blocks	0.0	0.3
Turnovers	1.1	1.3
Fouls	1.8	1.8

	David Levitch	Ty Hudson
	6-3, 180, Jr.	6-1, 205, Fr
Minutes	8.1	9.5
Points	2.6	2.4
Field Goal %	61.50%	26.80%
3-point %	57.10%	28.00%
FT %	66.70%	45.50%
Rebounds	0.8	0.3
Assists	0.5	0.6
Steals	0.4	0.3
Blocks	0.0	0
Turnovers	0.3	0.2
Fouls	0.7	0.8

	Deng Adel
	6-7, 200, Fr.
Minutes	11.0
Points	3.2
Field Goal %	38.50%
3-point %	0.00%
FT %	75.00%
Rebounds	1.8
Assists	0.8
Steals	0.0
Blocks	0.0
Turnovers	1.3
Fouls	1.0

	Ray Spalding	Sidy Djitte
	6-10, 210, Fr.	6-10, 240, Jr.
Minutes	16.4	14.5
Points	5.7	5.6
Field Goal %	63.00%	73.20%
3-point %	0.00%	0.00%
FT %	41.40%	68.60%
Rebounds	4.9	6.0
Assists	0.6	0.4
Steals	0.9	0.5
Blocks	0.9	0.6
Turnovers	0.9	1.0
Fouls	1.7	2.7

	Matz Stockman
	7-0, 240, Soph
Minutes	7.4
Points	3.9
Field Goal %	60.90%
3-point %	0.00%
FT %	53.80%
Rebounds	2.9
Assists	0.2
Steals	0.0
Blocks	0.2
Turnovers	0.7
Fouls	1.3

	Anas Mahmoud
	7-0, 200, Soph
Minutes	10.6
Points	2.3
Field Goal %	52.90%
3-point %	0.00%
FT %	38.90%
Rebounds	2.5
Assists	0.4
Steals	0.5
Blocks	1.3
Turnovers	0.6
Fouls	1.2