CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WDRB) – Sometimes, tournament runs take a little bit of magic. Chucky Hepburn provided it for Louisville Thursday night.
After a twisting three-point try by Terrence Edwards bounced off, James Scott got a hand on the ball as Chisolm Opkara started to grab it, and poked it toward Chucky Hepburn, who buried an elbow jumper as time expired to give Louisville a 75-73 buzzer-beating win over Stanford.
The win was Louisville’s tenth in a row and puts the Cardinals into the ACC Tournament semifinals for the first time ever. Terrence Edwards led the Cardinals with 20 and Hepburn added 20.
For three-quarters of Thursday’s quarterfinal, it looked like those who had doubted Louisville’s credentials as the tournament No. 2 seed might’ve been onto something.
But as a former Louisville football coach is fond of saying — not so fast, my friends.
Stanford built a 15-point lead off an 11-0 run early in the second half and Louisville looked rather lifeless. But the Cardinals scored 12 in a row minutes later, cutting its deficit to one. And having come to life, Louisville looked more like its old self.
“We had them discombobulated there a little bit, but they’re just relentless,” Stanford coach Kyle Smith said. “And it was hard to keep them there.”
For Louisville, it was a tenth straight victory, and second straight without Reyne Smith, the three-point specialist who is out with an injured ankle. The win was gritty, not pretty.
With the smooth sailing Louisville has had the past couple of months, there could be a reasonable question over how it would respond when it faced serious adversity. It faced it when it was down
A Hepburn three with 3:35 left put Louisville up 68-65. After Maxime Reynaud missed on a drive when he was thrown out of balance by Hepburn’s defense, Hepburn drove the ball up the court and threw a no-look pass to J’Vonne Hadley under the basket for a layup to put Louisville up 70-65 with 3:05 left.
After Stanford called timeout, Reynaud was called for his fifth foul on a screen when Louisville applied full-court pressure, giving Louisville the ball with 2:57 left.
Louisville then had Noah Waterman get blocked on a dunk attempt, but Scott took the rebound and slammed it home, and Louisville was up 72-65 and beginning to assert control.
Louisville led 73-65 when Stanford hit a deep three to stay in the game. After Hepburn missed an open step-back three, Stanford still had life. Louisville fouled Oziya Sellers, and he hit both free throws to pull the Cardinal within three. Then, the unthinkable. Hepburn, on a crucial late possession, committed a turnover, throwing a pass across court that was intercepted by Stanford and raced to the other end, where Chisolm Okpara drove for a layup and was fouled by Waterman. He made the free throw to tie the game.
Terrence Edwards celebrates a first-half three-pointer during Louisville’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal game against Stanford.
ERIC CRAWFORD
That set up a last possession. Edwards threw up a wild three with seven seconds left, it bounced high off the rim and it appeared that Scott might’ve poked the rebound away form Opkara, and straight into the hands of Hepburn, who buried the shot and then streaked around the court as he was chased, and finally caught, by his teammates.
For Louisville, it was the largest deficit overcome this season. And it was the Cardinals’ first halftime deficit of the season (they led Duke 37-33 at the break). The win also improved their record to 26-0 in games they’ve led with five minutes to play.
The Cardinals rode their highest ACC seed ever into the tournament, but managed just six points on a pair of Noah Waterman three-pointers in the first nine minutes. The first half was a defensive struggle, with a late three by Stanford the only difference in a game it led 33-30 at the break.
Stanford outscored Louisville 19-7 to open the second half, scoring those points in just over 5 ½ minutes. But soon, Louisville got its offense going. The Cardinals went on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 60 with 7:41 left, and it was tight from that point on.
Louisville made just five of its first 10 free-throws, but began to deliver with the game on the line after getting into the bonus in the second half.
The Cardinals finally re-took the lead with 5:40 remaining, after a pair of offensive rebounds. On Louisville’s third scoring try, Edwards drove and was fouled. He made both free throws, putting Louisville up 64-62. Stanford then retook the lead on a three-pointer by Benny Gealer.
Edwards tied the game at 65 by making one of two free throws on the other end.
Louisville shot 54.8 percent in the second half and 50.9 percent for the game. They outrebounded Stanford 32-28 and were outscored 33-24 from beyond the arc.
They’ll face the winner of Clemson’s game against SMU in Friday’s late semifinal.
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