Tigers maintain momentum in ACC action with win at Syracuse |
For the first time this season, Clemson has won back-to-back ACC games, and
Brad Brownell’s Tigers did so in two of the toughest environments in the league.
After Tuesday’s 80-76 upset at No. 3 UNC on Tuesday, Clemson (16-7, 6-6 ACC) extended its first winning run in conference play with a 77-68 victory at Syracuse (15-9, 6-7) on Saturday. Clemson put together another strong first half, while Syracuse had its worst of the year. In his homecoming after 125 games in a Syracuse Orange uniform, Joseph Girard III scored his first points on a 3-pointer to start an 11-0 run for Clemson to a double-digit lead the Tigers maintained to halftime. Missing Girard and more offense, Syracuse went scoreless for nearly six minutes and started 5-of-22 from the field shooting. Owning a 26-9 advantage on rebounds, the Tigers posted their biggest lead yet, 31-16, thanks to their 10th and 11th second-chance points on a RJ Godfrey putback. Chase Hunter’s buzzer-beater runner gave the Tigers a 37-24 edge at the break. The 24 points was a season-low at the half for Syracuse and a second game in a row for Clemson with a significant advantage after 20 minutes (led by nine at UNC on Tuesday). A couple of quick 3-pointers for the Orange cut the deficit to five within a couple minutes, before things settled into a more back-and-forth affair. Another Girard 3-pointer, a third make in three attempts from beyond the arc, built the lead back out to eight points with under 14 minutes left. Orange star guard Judah Mintz battled his team back to within three with under 11 to go, however, getting the Dome crowd into the game, but after a Clemson timeout, Girard was there again to answer with a trey. The Tigers committed double-digit turnovers in the first half (10), and they had a season-high by midway through the second half – a Godfrey turnover for Clemson’s 18th total, giving Syracuse the ball back down four with under eight minutes left. A pair of Orange free throws cut the lead to two, but PJ Hall was there for the bucket to answer. JJ Starling’s layup brought the deficit back to two with under five minutes to go, and after the turnover count bumped up to 21 for Clemson, Syracuse cut the lead to one. Starling’s jumper a little later tied the game at 60-all with 3:37 left. Clemson attacked the hoop for its next possessions and built the lead back to four points with buckets from Hall and Chase Hunter, forcing a Syracuse timeout with 2:28 to go. "Kind of a strange game. Our starting unit didn't guard well for the first four minutes of either half and I think our bench was terrific. Giving us the jolt that we kinda needed," Brownell said. "I give our older guys credit. I kinda got into them at our huddle midway through the second half. Just disappointed a little bit -- just a little starry-eyed or whatnot, thought it was going to be easy. It was not going to be easy -- these guys are 11-1 up here. Huge crowd today and they're battling back and fighting for their team. It gets loud in here. "We kinda took a deep breath. PJ had a great play off a dunk and we had a great after-timeout play to Joe for a three. Had a couple really good actions that got us some big baskets and defensively we kinda held on and then we held on against the press." After a steal, Ian Schieffelin was there to deliver the dagger 3-pointer with 1:54 left. He backed that up with a layup on Clemson’s next possession. Salting the game away at the free throw line, Girard reached the 2,000-career point mark. Girard finished with a game-best 18 points on 5-of-6 shooting. "I'm proud of him -- and it's hard, there's times that we're fighting on things," Brownell said. "We're trying to get him 12 shots a game. We're trying. We run a bunch of different things. When they put Judah Mintz on him and they just chase him everywhere...It's hard to break him free. To Joe's credit, he did not take bad shots. He stayed within offense. He moved. He accepted that sometimes he's not going to get a shot, and when they do guard like that, there are times that opens things up for other players...Just Joe being on the floor is significant from that factor. But then the efficiency is what it comes down to. Joe's efficiency is so good. Five-for-6 and then he makes all his free throws, there's a lot of guys who score 20 in games but take 20 shots to get them. Joe rarely does that. His poise down the stretch and the way he wanted the ball helped us break press and deal with pressure was terrific." Hall posted a double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds. Chase Hunter (14) and Schieffelin (13) also scored in double-figures. The Tigers finished with a 48-32 advantage in the paint scoring, getting 17 more rebounds. They shot 60.8% from the field (67% in the second half), while the Orange made 39.1% of their attempts. The win was a second for the program at Syracuse in seven tries and a first in regulation, after the 74-73 OT victory in the 2015-16 campaign. Clemson went into Saturday’s action with a No. 29 ranking in the NCAA’s NET resume metric. The Tigers return to action at home versus Miami on Wednesday (7 p.m./ESPN2). Clemson Notes: Clemson improved to 16-7 overall and 6-6 in ACC play … the Tigers won their second road game of the week after winning at No. 3 North Carolina on Feb. 6 … it marked the first time Clemson has won two road conference games in the same week since Jan. 4-7, 2023 … the Tigers won at Virginia Tech (68-65) on Jan. 4 and at Pittsburgh on Jan. 7 (75-74) … Joseph Girard III reached the 2,000-point plateau with a game-high 18 points … he now has 366 career 3-pointers (third all-time in the ACC) … PJ Hall netted his sixth double-double of the season and 13th of his career … with 15 points against Syracuse, Hall reached the 1,500-point plateau and still sits 12th on Clemson’s all-time scoring list … Chase Hunter scored 14 points and now has 1,038 career points, passing KJ McDaniels for 42nd on Clemson’s all-time scoring list. Good start to the return for @JG3_____ 🙌 .@chunt3r2 beats the buzzer to end the first half! #ClemsonGRIT 🔥 HUGH sequence by @ian_schieffelin to secure the steal and sink the three 👌🔥 Clemson squeezes past Syracuse, 77-68 on the road! @ClemsonMBB | #ACCMBB pic.twitter.com/DbO4j2631A Dome Dub For The Tigers! 🙏🏻💜 https://t.co/9RfRwlVLhF Congrats on 2,000, @JG3_____! @ClemsonMBB | #ACCMBB pic.twitter.com/7TtnK9PZnf Road DUBS!! #ClemsonGRIT pic.twitter.com/HmssfqJQ2j
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