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ACC tournament: Clemson comeback attempt halted after refs miss multiple clear fouls

Louisville will face Duke in the ACC tournament championship game. It required an adventurous couple of minutes to get there, at Clemson's expense.

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After leading by double digits for much of the second half on Friday, Louisville nearly blew a lead that was as large as 11 points with less than two minutes left. A series of empty possessions and missed free throws opened the door for Clemson to nearly tie the game.

And then, well, the officials missed some stuff.

With 10 seconds remaining, Clemson star Chase Hunter drove in an attempt to tie the game and was met by a physical presence from Louisville at the rim. And by "physical," we mean two Louisville defenders who both made enough contact to justify a foul.

No foul was called.

A missed Chucky Hepburn free throw on the next possession left Clemson the opportunity send the game to overtime with six seconds left. The Tigers again gave the ball to Hunter, who ran up the floor and threw up a 3-pointer as Louisville's Terrence Edwards Jr. met him at halfcourt.

Replay showed Edwards clearly putting hands on Hunter before he took the shot, but again, no free throws came for Clemson. Just confusion.

Louisville won the game 76-73.

Clemson was diplomatic after the game, with Hunter addressing the non-calls by saying "That's not up to me. I tried to make a play, and it didn't go my way."

Head coach Brad Brownell also didn't sound too critical over how the end of the game was called.

The loss leaves Clemson with a 27-6 record and won't hurt their chances to make the NCAA Tournament. They are a lock for March Madness, though a win over Louisville and an ACC title had they beaten a Cooper Flagg-less Duke would have probably helped them in the seeding department.

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