Back to Business -- WBB Visits Clemson -- THURSDAY CARDINAL COUPLE

Cards Travel to Clemson

Now that the year has begun it is time to get back to business. Louisville Women's basketball plans to do just that when they visit Clemson tonight.  The Cards and Tigers will top off at 7:00 p.m., ET.  The game is slated to be aired on ACC Network Extra, or you can tune into Nick Curran and AJ on the radio on Cards Radio WKRD 790 AM.

The Tigers play their home games in Littlejohn Arena. I would expect a decent crowd for this one, with the Cards coming in as a top 10 squad and the general excitement about Clemson Sports playing a factor as well. Their football squad is playing for the National Championship and sometimes other programs will bring in highly ranked programs fot recognition and a cameo temperance to fire up the fan base and bolster attendance.

Attendance usually hovers around the 1400 mark for home games in Littlejohn. They did bring in almost 4300 against Alabama State (Education Day event) and 2830 for South Carolina.

Probably got a bad mushroom. The Clemson Tiger is
simply known as The Tiger, no nickname
. He needs sunglasses 

Louisville improved to 12-1 after a scare against Syracuse in the ACC opener.  The Cards have won
their last two conference road openers and are 15-1 on the road against the ACC the last two years.

Clemson (5-8) had a rough start to the year but has won two of their last three and sit at 1-1 in conference play.  Most recently, they went to South Bend and walked away with a 16-point win.  They gave Notre Dame their first home conference loss since joining the ACC in 2013.

Other than getting beat by South Carolina pretty badly the Tigers have been competitive in games.  The killer has been offense.  They've topped 70 points just five times in 13 outings.

Clemson averages 62.8 points per game.  Their shooting is pretty effective with a .404 mark from the field and .292 mark from three-point range.  Three-point shooting is not Clemson's go-to, as they have only made 59 on the year.  Turnovers have been a problem for the Tigers, who have 283 on the year, nearly 22 per game.

Scoring has been by committee with no particular player being the go to.  Kobi Thornton (13.5 points per game), Amari Robinson (11.& ppg), and Kendall Spray (10.2 ppg) have been the three top scorers with seven other players averaging between three and six points per game.  Thornton was a second team All-ACC member last season.

Spray has been the only deep range threat, making 34 treys and shooting 35%.  Her 34 three's ranks fifth in the ACC.  No one else has made more than nine.She was also ACC Player of the Week last week.

Thornton and Robinson have led the rebounding charge with 6.5 and 6.7 per game, respectively.  As a team, Clemson averages nearly 41 rebounds per game, two and a half more than their opponents.

Louisville owns the series with a 7-3 advantage.  They've also won seven straight, all coming since
the Cards joined the ACC.  The most recent meeting was in the ACC tournament, where the two teams went head-to-head for most of the game before the Cards pulled out a 75-67 win.

Our good friend Arthur should be in attendance and most likely fired up, now that he has returned from a thrilling Fiesta Bowl.  Perhaps he will make a cameo while we're watching the game from our phones and computers.

All in all, the Tigers are in a second year of a rebuild with head coach Amanda Butler, who we've pictured here. We're not sure if she's surfing, skateboarding or just trying to negotiate the walk from the bar to the car at the end of New Year's Eve...but she is a talented coach when not wind-surfing and the Tigers could pose a huge threat if Louisville stays with their recent "play to the level of their opponent" mode.

Planning ahead, the Cards return home this coming Sunday for a tip-off against Duke at 2:00 p.m.

Happy Thursday and Go Cards!

Jared