Clemson is getting pretty good at beating some of the blue blood programs and top-five college basketball teams.
Brad Brownell’s Tigers (8-1 overall) did it again on Tuesday night inside a raucous Littlejohn Coliseum in front of a national television audience on ESPN. Behind a career-high 20 rebounds from senior Ian Schieffelin, who added 11 points to go with 12 points from Chauncey Wiggins, the Tigers took down the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats, 70-66, in the SEC-ACC Challenge.
Kentucky (7-1) suffered its first loss of the season under first-year coach Mark Pope. The Wildcats were held to a season-low in points after averaging 96.7 entering the night. Kentucky had gone over the 100-point plateau in four of its first seven games.
It was the Tigers’ fourth straight win over a top-five opponent in the AP Top 25 poll as an unranked team. According to OptaSTATS, it’s a feat that no other program has accomplished since the AP poll expanded to 25 teams in the 1989-90 season.
Clemson led Kentucky, 37-30, at intermission before pulling ahead by as many as eight with 4:20 to play after a three throw from Boston College Eagles transfer Jaeden Zackery. Senior Chase Hunter iced the game with two free throws with one second remaining.
Hunter (10 points) was one of four Clemson players to finish in double figures, joining Schieffelin, Wiggins and Zackery, who had a team-high 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field.
Afterwards, fans stormed the court to celebrate the Tigers’ latest takedown of a top-ranked team. A season ago, Clemson entered the NCAA Tournament unranked and reeled off three wins — against New Mexico, the Baylor Bears and Arizona Wildcats — to reach the Elite Eight for only the second time in program history.
The Tigers entered this week unranked in both the AP Top 25 poll and USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll but received 25 votes for consideration in the AP poll.
Here are some of the best photos of the Tigers’ thrilling takedown of Kentucky on an unforgettable night at Littlejohn.