John Newman III scored a career-high 23 points and Clemson stunned No. 5 Louisville 77-62 on Saturday afternoon in Atlantic Coast Conference play in Clemson, S.C.
It was the unranked Tigers' second upset of a Top 5 team this season, along with a Jan. 14 win against then-No. 3 Duke.
Clemson (13-12, 7-8 ACC) won its second straight. Louisville (21-5, 12-3) trailed by 17 at halftime and fell one-half game behind Duke in the conference standings.
Newman, a sophomore guard, made 7 of 9 shots from the floor and was perfect on seven free throws en route to his seventh double-figure scoring game of the season. He also had six rebounds and two steals.
Tevin Mack added 14 points in his 17th double-figure game of the season while Aamir Simms added 13 points. Clyde Trapp scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Dwayne Sutton paced Louisville with 18 points while freshman David Johnson added 12 points.
Jordan Nwora, who entered the game as the ACC's leading scorer, failed to score until 3:29 remained in the game. He finished with five points and nine rebounds.
Clemson took control from the outset, bolting to an 18-5 lead and taking a 17-point advantage, 31-14, into the halftime locker room. The Tigers, who shot 51 percent for the game, continued their onslaught in the second half, pushing their lead to as many as 21 points before Louisville attempted a comeback.
A 13-2 run helped the Cardinals cut their deficit to 44-34 points with 9:49 remaining, but that was as close as Louisville would get.
Louisville, which defeated Clemson at Louisville by 18 points on Jan. 25, shot 34.8 percent for the game. It was the Cardinals' second consecutive defeat after posting a 10-game winning streak.
--Field Level Media
Louisville | Clemson | |
Dwayne Sutton 18 | Scoring | John Newman III 23 |
David Johnson 8 | Assists | Aamir Simms 6 |
Jordan Nwora 9 | Rebounds | Clyde Trapp 9 |
David Johnson 2 | Free Throws Made | John Newman III 7 |
Ryan McMahon 2 | Steals | John Newman III 2 |
Ryan McMahon 1 | Blocks | Tevin Mack 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Louisville | 62 | 34.8 | 6-27 | 8-12 | 11 | 34 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Clemson | 77 | 51.0 | 9-23 | 18-23 | 10 | 31 | 4 | 5 | 8 |