What really went wrong on Sunday?

For those Louisville fans who are living under a rock, the Cardinals lost to Clemson this past Sunday 66-62. The final score makes it seem not as bad but I assure you that this was the definition of an “off-game”.

Let’s breakdown the issues:

First, Louisville had 17 turnovers while Clemson only had 12. Sadly, I missed the first half of the game. The only response I got on Twitter was “we have too many turnovers”. When the turnover ratio is 17-12, that’s a possibly averaged 10+ point swing for Clemson just off turnovers! We only lost by four so turnovers could have cost us the game.

Second (and my biggest issue), Clemson was 32-44 from the line while Louisville was only 11-16. You aren’t reading that incorrectly; Clemson scored double the amount of free throws that Louisville ATTEMPTED! Nearly half of Clemson’s points were from free throws. That is something we have to work on going forward. Fouls are going to be called, especially with all of the new rule changes, but we can’t allow a team 32 points from the line. Both Onauku and Mahmoud fouled out of the game while Spalding, Snider, and Mitchell had 4 apiece. The overall statistic of free throws/fouling appalled me when I looked at the finished box score.

Last, Clemson was only 6-20 from the 3-point line. Sadly, Louisville had an even worse statistic than that. Louisville was 3-23 from the arc. Clemson outscored Louisville 50-20 from the free-throw line and beyond the arc. It felt like Louisville was incapable of ever making three-point shots on Sunday. Trey Lewis was 1-11 and Damien Lee was 0-7 on three pointers. This was the first game this season that Lee wasn’t in double figures.

Sadly, Louisville was unable to pull out the victory on Sunday, but ultimately I feel that Clemson deserved that game after the way the Cards played. However, it is only January. This happens every year to our team and every year the fanbase freaks out. If you haven’t read our recap of the game, you should check it out here. Michael did a fantastic job of pointing out why we shouldn’t panic just yet.

What are your thoughts on the loss this past Sunday? Let us know in the comment section below or hit us up on your favorite social media.