Category: Boston College Eagles

No. 21 Clemson snapped a three-game ACC losing streak with an 89-78 victory over Boston College at Littlejohn Coliseum Saturday. The Tigers led by nine at halftime and would push the lead to as many as 19 in the second half.

Here’s what Clemson coach Brad Brownell said after the game.

On the offense’s performance:

“Really good offensive game. I thought our guys showed really good poise and patience. We thought we had an advantage inside. Quinten Post not playing for them certainly helped us with size a little bit inside. We did a nice job. We went to the high-low (offense) a bunch. I thought it got us off to a great start.

“We had that stretch at the end where we turned it over a few times, and that kept the game from being 20 (points). I think our offensive execution in the second half was 69 percent and it was mostly at the rim and inside. I’m really proud of the way our guys handled it.”

On Quinten Post’s absence from Boston College’s lineup:

“At some point, you’ve got to play smart. That’s what we do a lot. Obviously I think PJ (Hall) shot a couple of 3’s in some of these games where we settled. Sometimes we get behind and he just wants to help so much that I think he tries to shoot our way out of it. I think we’ve got to make sure we’re executing inside-out. There are some big guys he’s playing against.

“The other thing is, when you see Ian Schieffelin getting 15 points two games in a row, it’s because PJ is away from the basket and we’re creating space for Ian when Ian has a better matchup like at Virginia Tech or North Carolina. RJ (Godfrey) had 11 points today because he had a good matchup on some things. There are times when PJ’s ability to shoot, even when he doesn’t shoot the ball, it opens things up for other players.

“But we really didn’t find out exactly (about Post’s absence) until about 15 minutes before the game. We heard that a couple of guys weren’t playing. The hard part for us was that we’d planned defensively to play against a little more inside-out offense of theirs. Then all of a sudden, we’re dealing with four guards and we’ve got to go small.

“They did a few things that we hadn’t really practiced on just in the last couple of days. Give [Boston College] credit. They made some shots. Elijah Strong, who has barely played as a freshman, comes in and gets 14 points. He hadn’t made a 3 all year and he makes two 3’s. Sometimes when you play without a guy (like Post), you’re just playing on the road with a free mind. You’re just so relaxed and loose. You’re not supposed to win.

“So I think they kind of played that way in the second half when we had them down. I’m disappointed that we didn’t win by 20 or what-not, but I’m also very pleased because it’s hard to win these games. The way our guys played offensively for 40 minutes was terrific. We played pretty good defense for about 25 minutes. The last couple of minutes, it got away from us.”

On Joe Girard’s five 3-pointers:

“That was huge. It was good to see him get going. He actually missed some stuff early. It’s crazy but the first three or four minutes of the game, we got four or five really, really good shots but we didn’t make a basket. It was a little bit like, ‘Oh my goodness. This was (last week vs.) North Carolina. Let’s not do this again.’

“But I think our guys really hung with it and kept executing. I thought we stayed patient. We didn’t shoot the quick ones today. We stuck with things. Obviously I think we wore them down defensively. Sometimes I think just the inside-out, just posting up, there’s a wearing effect on guys. I thought Joe was the beneficiary of some of that.”

On the crowd and overall atmosphere:

“Terrific. Really good. Military Appreciation Day and everybody in purple was awesome. I’m thankful for all those folks and appreciative of the crowd today. Good to get back on track. Let’s validate it on Tuesday.”

UP NEXT: Clemson will host Georgia Tech (8-8 overall, 1-4 conference) Tuesday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST. The game will be televised by ACC Network.

After his team’s third straight loss to open the year on Wednesday night, Clemson coach Brad Brownell issued a challenge to leading scorer PJ Hall to fight harder and to play like an All-American.

Challenge accepted.

Hall and Joe Girard each had 26 points to give No. 21 Clemson an 89-78 victory over an outmatched Boston College team on Saturday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum. It was the Tigers’ first victory since Dec. 29.

Clemson (12-4 overall, 2-3 conference) looked good in most every phase of the game. Playing in front of a packed house dressed primarily in purple for both Military Appreciation Day and Alumni Day, the Tigers shot 54.2 percent from the floor and out-rebounded their opponent, 38-23.

After leading by nine at halftime, Clemson started the second half with a 15-7 run and would open up a 19-point lead — the largest of the game — at 72-53 with 8:30 to play. It was a noticeable change from the past three games when opponents overwhelmed the Tigers in the opening minutes of the second half.

Boston College (10-6 overall, 1-4 conference), playing without top scorer Quinten Post due to a stomach illness, made a late run to trim the lead to 11. But the Eagles never got back to within single digits down the stretch.

Girard had five 3-pointers and was 8-of-16 from the floor in the Tigers’ victory.

But it was Hall who stood out the most, connecting on 10 of 18 shots overall, including six of eight in the second half. The 6’10” senior also added 18 rebounds.

Brownell had said that Hall needed to step up his game after he was held to just 11 points in the Tigers’ anemic performance in a blowout loss at Virginia Tech earlier in the week.

In Saturday’s turnaround, Hall had 12 points in the first half alone. He began the second half 5-for-5 shooting.

Hall made a move past Mason Madsen to get to the basket for a layup to give Clemson its first points after halftime. On his final shot of the game, Hall drove through the lane and slammed one home with 1:11 to play to put an exclamation point on his performance.

The Tigers held Boston College to 41.9 percent shooting in the first half, a sharp contrast to the 61.9 percent that Virginia Tech shot in the opening stanza three nights earlier.

Jaeden Zackery had 18 points to lead Boston College, and Claudell Harris, Jr. added 17.

Clemson returns to action Tuesday night when they host Georgia Tech (8-7 overall, 1-3 conference) in a 9 p.m. tipoff. The game will be televised by ACC Network.