CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Louisville basketball is moving on to the ACC Tournament’s semifinal round for the first time since joining the conference in 2014 thanks to a buzzer-beating jumper from Chucky Hepburn.
Pat Kelsey’s No. 2-seeded Cardinals on Thursday notched their first postseason win since March 8, 2022, by taking down No. 7 Stanford, 75-73, at the Spectrum Center.
With the victory, they’ll play either No. 3 Clemson or No. 6 SMU at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday for a spot in Saturday’s championship game.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Don’t count the Cards out
With 14:36 to play in regulation, Stanford took its largest lead of the night, 52-37.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Nail in the coffin? Not in the slightest.
Louisville ripped off a 23-8 run in the span of 6 minutes, 55 seconds to tie the game at 60 with 7:23 on the clock. Hepburn, Terrence Edwards Jr. and James Scott combined for 21 points during the swing.
Edwards scored a game-high 25 points. This was his sixth outing with 20 or more points since Feb. 1.
A ‘rock fight’ out of the gate
One of Kelsey’s last messages to his players before tipoff was, “Rock fight, rock fight, rock fight.”
He got his wish. Louisville and Stanford combined to make five of their first 20 field-goal attempts.
The Cards jumped to a 6-0 lead thanks to two 3-pointers from Noah Waterman, then fell into a scoring drought of nearly six minutes, featuring six turnovers, while Stanford pulled ahead with a 9-0 run.
Both teams finished the half shooting above 45% from the field and 38% from 3, but the Cardinal held a 33-30 advantage at the intermission by making eight of its final 10 shots and scoring nine points off eight U of L turnovers.
This was the first time Louisville trailed an ACC opponent at the break all season.
Reyne Smith still sidelined due to ankle injury
Reyne Smith missed his second consecutive game due to a right ankle injury he suffered early in the first half of a March 5 win over California at the KFC Yum! Center.
The senior guard, who’s among the country’s most prolific marksmen, wasn’t wearing the boot that he sported during the regular-season finale. But his status for Friday’s semifinal was uncertain at the time of publication.
Waterman stepped up big time in Smith’s absence. The sixth-year forward had his best scoring performance since late December, netting 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds to boot.
This story will be updated.
Reach Louisville men’s basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.
