Tigers wrap regular season with loss as Deacs shoot lights-out |
On Saturday evening in Winston-Salem, Clemson's Tigers badly wanted a win to clinch a double bye to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals next week, while the home Wake Forest Demon Deacons badly needed a win to stay in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament bid.
The latter won out with a hot-shooting performance, 81-76, and aided Clemson (21-10, 11-9 ACC) in falling out of a double bye spot and denied it a 10th win away from Littlejohn Coliseum in the regular season and a sixth victory over a NET Quadrant 1 team. Clemson entered the night just needing a win to take a Top 4 spot in the ACC Tournament, but thanks to the loss and no NC State upset at Pittsburgh, the Tigers slipped to a 6-seed and will face the winner between 11-seed Boston College and 14-seed Miami on Wednesday at approximately 9:30 p.m. in D.C. Wake Forest (19-12, 11-9) entered the weekend in the “Next Four Out” of ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s projections, coming in with three losses in a row and five out of the previous seven games. The Tigers entered the weekend as a consensus 5-seed for the NCAA Tournament. "I thought it was a very well-played game," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. "Our defense is probably better than what it showed...But their shot-making was elite...They (made the shots). Every time we got into a rotation, they knocked it down. I think they're one of the more talented teams in our league...We had chances...We just couldn't quite be tough enough to finish the win. Give those guys credit. Their shot-making was elite." Clemson’s uneven play in the first half saw a six-point deficit at the break. The Tigers went on two lengthy scoring droughts, missing six shots in a row twice in those timespans. Clemson shrugged off the first drought of four-plus minutes with a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead, but going into the half, the Tigers went scoreless for the final 3:38. PJ Hall hit his first shot and missed the next seven to have only two points by the break. In the first 20 minutes overall, Clemson just hit 3-of-16 from beyond the arc, with starting guards Chase Hunter and Joseph Girard III going 1-for-9 combined. Each team went to the free throw line once by halftime. The Tigers finally broke the lengthy scoreless run by a Hall trip to the free throw line, where he hit 1-of-2 attempts with over two minutes into the second half. The first field goal in a while came from a 3-point play by Hunter, who slimmed the Deacs' advantage to four with under 17 to go. Jack Clark’s trey with 15 to go gave Clemson the lead back, while the Deacs suffered a lengthy field goal drought, and the Tigers’ 8-0 run extended the edge to three points. With Wake back within one and the crowd getting into it, Hall drove to the hoop for the 3-point play and put the Tigers back up four with ten and a half minutes left, but a quick Deacs run put Wake Forest on top by a point with just under 10 to go. Both teams got hot from the field simultaneously and traded punches, with Clemson hitting nine field goals in a row while Wake was sinking seven straight as the clock ticked toward six minutes to go, with the Demon Deacons leading by six. Wake extended its lead to a game-high eight and then a game-high nine points on consecutive possessions with five to go, and Hall did his best to almost singlehandedly answer, sinking his first 3-pointer of the game for his 14th, 15th and 16th points of the second session. The Deacs offense continued to blaze, however, making 12 shots in a row. The Tigers stayed in the hunt with free throw success and forcing turnovers, cutting the lead to five points with under two to go. With a chance to decrease the deficit further with under a minute left, Clark’s 3-point attempt was off the mark, but after a split pair of Wake free throws, Hunter knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 3-point game with 14 seconds left. Demon Deacons standout Hunter Sallis made two free throws next to make it a 5-point game again, and after a quick Hunter dunk, Hall fouled out, and the Deacs sealed the game at the free throw line. Wake Forest shot 65% from the field to Clemson's 58% in the second half. The Demon Deacons lost one home game all season, averaging an over 15-point scoring margin coming into the matchup Saturday. Hunter finished with 17 points, joined in double-figures on Clemson by Hall (18), Girard (14) and Clark (10). Wake's Sallis scored 22.
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