GREENVILLE, S.C. — After a couple of close victories, Louisville Coach Rick Pitino warned his team that the offense would go cold and the defense would have to win a game.
The No. 16 Cardinals (13-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) missed their first 15 three-pointers and couldn’t slow down Clemson enough in a 66-62 loss to the Tigers on Sunday.
“They played a physical, well-played basketball game,” Pitino said. “They took us out of a lot of things we do well.”
Clemson (10-6, 3-1) used its defense and got a little help from foul trouble to beat the Cardinals.
Louisville’s leading scorer, Damion Lee, had six points on 2-of-12 shooting, well below his average of 17 points, which ranks fourth in the ACC. Trey Lewis scored 10 points but missed 16 of his 19 shots. Chinanu Onuaku, the Cardinals’ best inside player, led his team with 14 points but was out much of the second half with foul trouble.
“I knew this type of game was going to happen sooner or later. I’ve been trying to warn our guys about it,” said Pitino, whose team beat Wake Forest by eight and North Carolina State by five. “You’ve got to have tour defense every night and we haven’t. We got burned because of it.”
Jaron Blossomgame scored 17 points and Avry Holmes added 16 as the Tigers — picked to finish 12th in the league this season — snapped a 10-game losing streak against ranked ACC opponents.
“The longer the game went, the more our guys believed,” Clemson Coach Brad Brownell said.
Clemson led for the entire second half but had to hang on late. The Tigers were up by 11 with 3:34 to go before Lewis hit Louisville’s first three-pointer of the game.
The Cardinals kept whittling the deficit down, and with Clemson up 64-58, Sidy Djitte fouled Louisville’s Jaylen Johnson on a dunk. Johnson missed the free throw, but Quniton Snider got the rebound and the Cardinals made two more free throws to trail 64-62 with 5.5 seconds to go.
Holmes was fouled and sank both foul shots to seal the victory.
NO. 5 MICHIGAN STATE 92,
PENN STATE 65
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Bryn Forbes scored 20 points and No. 5 Michigan State welcomed back Denzel Valentine in a victory over Penn State.
Forbes made six of the Spartans’ 10 three-pointers and scored all his points in the first half. Valentine returned from his knee injury to score all 10 of his points after the break.
Eron Harris and Gavin Schilling each scored 13 points for Michigan State (16-1, 3-1 Big Ten).
Shep Garner had 19 points for Penn State (10-7, 1-3).
NO. 11 VILLANOVA 60,
NO. 18 BUTLER 15
INDIANAPOLIS — Josh Hart scored 22 points and Ryan Arcidiacono had 11 to help Villanova beat Butler.
The Wildcats (14-2, 4-0 Big East) have won six consecutive to remain the conference’s only unbeaten team in league play. Butler (12-4, 1-3) closed to 58-55 in the final minute and had a chance to tie, but Jordan Gathers missed a three-pointer with 13 seconds left. Roosevelt Jones led Butler with 20 points.
NO. 15 SMU 88,
CENTRAL FLORIDA 73
DALLAS — Ben Moore had a career-high 23 points, Nic Moore added 20 and SMU remained undefeated midway through its season.
The Mustangs (15-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference) will play only 30 games because of a postseason ban as part of NCAA sanctions handed down last fall that included Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown missing the team’s first nine games.
Brown, 75, wasn’t on the bench after halftime Sunday because he wasn’t feeling well. Brown experienced some symptoms of vertigo.
Justin McBride had 20 points and nine rebounds for UCF (8-6, 2-1).
ILLINOIS 84,
NO. 20 PURDUE 70
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Malcolm Hill scored 30 points and Kendrick Nunn added 22 to lead Illinois past Purdue.
Nunn returned after missing Thursday’s loss at Michigan State for the birth of his son. He started slowly but scored 18 points in the second half for the Illini (9-8, 1-3 Big Ten).
Caleb Swanigan and P.J. Thompson each had 12 points for Purdue (14-3, 2-2).
Sports on 01/11/2016