LOUISVILLE, Ky. — El Ellis scored 28 points earned its second win in Atlantic Coast Conference play by upsetting Clemson 83-73 on Saturday night.
The Cardinals entered the game with momentum after throwing a major scare in No. 7 Virginia before falling, 61-58, and on the night the school feted the 2012-13 Louisville national championship team they rose up and knocked Clemson out of a third-place tie in the conference standings.
Brandon Huntley-Hatfeld gave Louisville the lead with a pair of free throws with 1:34 left in the first half, Ellis padded it with two more from the line and Kamari Lands hit a jumper to send the Cardinals into intermission with a 39-36 lead.
Clemson took a brief lead early in the second half on a Hunter Tyson layup, but Louisville went on a 9-0 run to lead 52-44 with 15 minutes to play and flirted with an 10-point lead for much of the rest of the way.
Tyson knocked down a 3 to pull Clemson within four, 68-64, but Mike James hit a jumper and Huntley-Hatfield dunked to make it 74-66 going into the final minute of play. Tyson drilled an open 3 to get within five, 74-69, and Louisville turned the ball over on the inbounds pass with 46 seconds left.
The Tigers found Chauncey Wiggins with the inbounds pass but JJ Traynor blocked the shot and the Cardinals gathered the loose ball. Ellis hit 5 of 6 from the line and added an uncontested dunk with a second left to set the final margin.
Traynor had a career-high 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Louisville (4-23, 2-14). James finished with 13 points.
PJ Hall led Clemson (19-8, 11-5) with 28 points and eight rebounds. Brevin Galloway and Chase Hunter scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, and Tyson added another 12.
The win capped off a celebratory night for Cardinals fans as Louisville honored members of the 2013 Men's Basketball team. The 2013 team won the NCAA National Championship that year, but the championship as well as the entire season were later vacated as punishment for recruiting violations.
“They couldn’t have picked a better night where the fan support was unbelievable,” UofL head coach Kenny Payne said. “They got to do it in front of a championship team. The championship team is in the locker room with them right now celebrating. They picked a great night, unbelievable night, unbelievable fan support, unbelievable energy in the building. The way they played, the fight they played with. We’re going to make mistakes, but we can make up for it with effort and energy.”
Louisville hung up a new banner in the rafters, declaring the Cards as #1 in the final Coach's Poll for 2013. The 2013 team was on hand, including fan favorites Peyton Siva, Montrezl Harrel, Luke Hancock and Wayne Blackshear.
The 2012-13 Cardinals team was picked No. 2 in the preseason polls and favored to win the Big East. They went on to win the Big East tournament and secured the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Men's Tournament. In the final, they defeated Michigan to win the NCAA Men's National Championship.
That title was vacated, as well as the wins for the season, in 2018 after an NCAA investigation revealed Louisville had committed recruiting violations.
UP NEXT
Clemson returns home and plays host to Syracuse Wednesday. Louisville plays at Duke Monday night.