Tigers go cold from 3-point range, lose to Irish |
Poor three-point shooting led to a road loss for the Tigers.
Clemson shot just 5-for-28 from beyond the arc as Notre Dame held on for a 69-62 victory at Purcell Pavilion. Clemson had won six of its last seven before the loss. Clemson falls to 20-9 overall and 10-8 in the ACC. Notre Dame improves to 12-17 overall and 6-12 in the ACC. Clemson had a chance to further secure a chance at a top-four spot in the league standings after Wake Forest’s loss to Virginia Tech. PJ Hall led the Tigers with 21 points but was 2-of-10 from 3-point range, while Joe Girard scored 11 (all in the second half) but was just 2-8 from beyond the arc. Chauncey Wiggins had 12 for the Tigers, while Ian Schieffelin added 10 points and 14 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. The Tigers played without Jack Clark and received just four points off the bench (Dillon Hunter and Josh Beadle with two each). Clemson is now 3-9 all-time against Notre Dame, including 1-5 on the road. The first part of the first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the Tigers twice opening six-point leads only to see the Irish fight back. Clemson looked like it might be starting to pull away when Hall made a driving layup, was fouled, and hit the free throw to put the Tigers ahead 24-17 with a little over seven minutes remaining. The Irish then scored seven consecutive points to tie the score at 24-24 with 5:55 to play in the half. Matt Zona hit a 3-pointer a minute later to put the Irish ahead 30-26 to complete a 13-2 run. The Tigers fought back, and late layups by Schieffelin and Hall gave Clemson a 34-31 advantage at intermission. The lead changed hands eight times in the first 13 minutes of the second half, and when Tae Davis threw down a thunderous dunk and then hit two free throws following a steal, Notre Dame held a four-point lead at 54-50 at the 6:58 mark. The Tigers were off the mark on the offensive end, and Davis hit two more free throws to give Notre Dame its biggest lead at 56-50 with a little over six minutes remaining in regulation. Hall hit a free throw to end the slide and make it 56-51, but Markus Burton nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and the Irish held a 59-51 lead with 4:30 to play. Chase Hunter hit a turnaround in the lane to pull the Tigers to within four at 61-57 with 1:59 to play, but the Irish received a 3-pointer from Braeden Shrewsberry and two free throws from Davis to push the lead to 66-57. With 39 seconds remaining, Girard was fouled on a 3-pointer, and he hit all three free throws to pull the Tigers back to within six at 66-60, and Notre Dame called a timeout with 36 seconds left on the clock. The Tigers could not mount much of a charge as the Irish pulled away for the win. The Tigers have two regular season games remaining. Clemson plays host to Syracuse Tuesday at 7 pm (ESPN2) for the final home game and then travels to Winston-Salem to take on Wake Forest for the regular season finale next Saturday.
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