No. 24 Tigers dominate second half to top TCU in Toronto |
The No. 24-ranked Clemson men’s basketball team took its show North of the Border and stayed undefeated in a battle of unbeatens with TCU, 74-66, at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Canada.
Clemson (9-0) continued its best run since 2008-09 (16-0) with the victory. The Tigers notched their fifth win away from home already. Clemson won eight games away from home all last season – and the fifth victory didn’t come until early January. Transfer guard Joseph Girard III scored 14 second-half points to a game-best 21 in the effort. Despite late foul trouble, PJ Hall added 17 points and six rebounds. Ian Schieffelin scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Clemson held a narrow lead at the half in a contrast of playing styles. The Tigers had an uncharacteristic rash of turnovers against TCU’s up-tempo pace, topping its season average for a game – in the first half – with 10. The Horned Frogs scored 11 points off of them and grabbed 11 offensive rebounds to offset the shooting totals Clemson limited them too. Clemson shot 48% at the break, led by a late surge of nine points from Hall. Hall didn’t score until over 11 minutes into the game. TCU (7-1) was led by guard Micah Peavy’s eight points after 20 minutes, staying within one (36-35) despite shooting 32% from the field (which was its final shooting percentage as well). "The last 25 minutes, the game was played our way," Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. "They hung with it. Took a deep breath and stayed with it...Thought our bench was terrific...We did make them play half-court...The game was played their way the first 10-12 minutes and we got it played our way in the last 25 or so, so the good guys won." Hall knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game with 16 minutes left to give Clemson its biggest lead of the game yet, 46-39, as part of an 8-0 run that brought a TCU timeout. A second chance point off a rebound from Schieffelin extended it to a 10-0 run with a layup shortly after. Girard’s 3-pointer-plus-the-foul, his first points since early in the first half, brought the Tigers’ first double-digit edge of the game with under 15 minutes to go. Girard continued on to a personal 9-0 run to push the lead to 57-42 Tigers with 13 to go. Hall picked up his fourth foul with 8:23 left and Clemson up eight, but the Tigers picked him up by extending the lead out to 14 points with under six to go. "Today was a defensive battle for us again," Brownell said. "Physicality, toughness, defensive gameplanning I think helped us. I'm proud of our guys. Four home games, three neutral games, two road games against a lot of quality competition. We had leads, we've lost leads, we've been behind by double figures multiple times and kept finding a way to win. Our team is unbelievably excited. I love that our fanbase is excited about our team and can't wait to get back and start playing some games in Littlejohn." Clemson improved to 20-9 in games outside of the United States all-time and 4-0 in the series with TCU. Clemson returns to action on the road next Saturday at Memphis (3 p.m./ESPN+). First 3️⃣ of the day for @JG3_____ 😮💨 What does #ClemsonGRIT look like? Three-point play ✅ @JG3_____
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Here it is on full display ⬇️👏
📺 FS1 | @ClemsonMBB pic.twitter.com/U7nm5SsYRK
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