Girard scores 23 as strong second half propels Tigers past Broncos

Joe Girard III scored 23 to lead the Tigers. (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Nov 19 15:12:23 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – A strong second half pushed Clemson to an 85-68 victory over a determined Boise State squad Sunday afternoon in Littlejohn Coliseum.

Joe Girard III scored a Clemson-high 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting, while Chase Hunter and PJ Hall each added 14. Ian Schieffelin grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Tigers, who out-rebounded the lengthy Broncos 40-25. The Tigers hit 15-of-16 free throws.

Clemson improves to 4-0 on the season, while Boise St. drops its first game and falls to 2-1. The game was the first ever between the two programs. Boise St. is one of the best programs in the Mountain West and has made the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons.

The Tigers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but the Broncos settled in, and it was a back-and-forth affair for the rest of the first half. When Chibuzo Agbo hit a 3-pointer at the 14:51 mark, the Broncos held their first lead at 11-10. A 3-pointer by Chauncey Wiggins put the Tigers back in front at 15-13, and Clemson eventually pushed the lead to nine at 24-15.

But Agbo kept the Broncos within striking distance – scoring 15 first-half points - and the Tigers were never able to pull away, leading 41-38 at the half.

Out of the half, O’mar Stanley scored three quick points to tie the game at 41-41, and after the Tigers bounced back out to a six-point lead behind Hall, Max Rice hit a three-pointer at the 16:57 mark that brought Boise back to within three at 47-44. That was as close as they would get the rest of the way.

Girard nailed a 3-pointer from the wing to make it 50-44, hit another jumper to make it 52-44, and after a Boise St. score, Girard scored on a layup to push the lead back to eight at 54-46. With the Tigers ahead by ten a few minutes later, Alex Hemenway drained a 3-pointer to make it 61-48 and Girard later added five straight points to make it 68-50 with 8:32 to play.

That flurry was part of a 12-2 run by the Tigers, capped off by a Hall dunk that put Clemson ahead 70-52 with over seven minutes to play. Back-to-back baskets by Hall and Chase Hunter pushed the lead to 22 at 76-54, the Tigers' largest lead of the day.

Girard capped his big day with another 3-pointer, this one with 1:18 remaining, to put Clemson ahead 83-62. The Tigers called timeout to get several reserves playing time.

Clemson returns to action Friday night, hosting Alcorn St. at 8 pm in Littlejohn (ACCN).