NCAA Basketball – Page 7 – Syndication Server

Brad Brownell offers explanation for Clemson’s recent turnaround

Clemson won its third straight contest on Wednesday night when the Tigers defeated ACC rival Miami, 77-60, at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The game was a stark contrast compared to the first time the Tigers (17-7 overall, 7-6 ACC) and Hurricanes met back on January 3 in Coral Gables. In that game, Miami scored 60 points in the second half to blow past Clemson, which would soon find itself with a three-game losing streak to begin the new year.

Those three losses dropped the Tigers out of the Top 25 polls altogether, plus several spots in various bracketology projections. For a period, it even looked like Clemson might be playing its way out of an almost sure-fire NCAA Tournament bid.

Then came an improbable victory over then-No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where the Tigers broke a trend by closing out a win in the final minutes of a game — something they’d failed to do previously in close losses to Duke, Virginia, and Georgia Tech.

Wednesday’s rematch against the Hurricanes was another example of Clemson taking control when the game was on the line.

After falling behind 54-48 just past the midway point of the second half, the Tigers would outscore Miami, 24-3, over the final eight-plus minutes.

Afterwards, Clemson coach Brad Brownell offered a fairly simple answer when asked what had contributed to his team’s recent dominance in the final minutes of games.

“Good players. It’s mostly good players making plays,” Brownell offered.

Put another way, the Tigers are simply making plays they weren’t making a month or even two weeks back. They’re shooting the ball better, getting better looks, making better passes, and putting themselves in better positions to win.

“You’ve got to get stops and then your guys have to make basketball plays. You try to put them in some (favorable) positions. We’re helping them with some plays. There are certainly some actions and things we’ve taught them to help. But at the end of the day, they’ve got to execute.,” Brownell told reporters after Wednesday’s game.

Clemson made 13 3-pointers in its win over Miami. That was a far cry from the Tigers’ contest against Virginia 10 days earlier after Brownell had bemoaned that the team had been having some woeful shooting nights in their own arena.

Against Virginia, Clemson made only 35 percent of its shots. Against Miami, they made 44.6 percent. And against Syracuse last Saturday, they connected on 61 percent of their shots.

Those numbers may not last, but the Tigers have started to regain their poise and show the things that got them out to an 11-1 start and playing like one of the biggest threats in the ACC.

“You look like a good coach when guys make shots. When we miss them and it doesn’t turn out well, there’s not a lot of difference sometimes. You just keep trying to put your guys in position to be successful and give them confidence to finish plays,” Brownell said.

Clemson returns to action Saturday when they it hosts NC State. The game is a scheduled 7:45 p.m. EST. tipoff and will be broadcast regionally by the CW Network.

Clemson closes out Miami, 77-60, for third straight win

Chase Hunter scored 20 points, and Clemson won its third straight in a 77-60 win over Miami on Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Chase Hunter scored a season-high 20 points and made five 3-pointers, and Clemson won its third straight in ACC play with a 77-60 victory over Miami at Littlejohn Coliseum Wednesday.

Both teams traded a pair 9-0 runs in the second half before Clemson pulled away. The Tigers (17-7 overall, 7-6 ACC) throughly dominated the Hurricanes (15-10, 6-8) down the stretch after leading just 31-30 at halftime and after trailing by six at one point in the second half.

Hunter broke a 57-all tie with his fourth 3-pointer of the night with 5:44 to play to put the Tigers ahead for good. PJ Hall added a 3-pointer with just over a minute left to run the Tigers’ lead to 74-60.

The game was well in hand even before then.

All told, Clemson closed the game on a 24-3 run over the final 6:45 of play. It was the third straight night in which the Tigers took control of the final 10 minutes of action.

“That was an incredible last 10 minutes,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said after his team’s win. “Incredible shot-making but good defense (too). I’m proud of our guys. We only had one turnover in the second half and 18 assisted baskets.”

Joe Girard added 18 points and Hall finished with 13 to give the Tigers three players in double figures for the night.

Then there was Hunter, the fifth-year senior who closed out the Tigers’ scoring when he sank his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 20 seconds to play. Hunter had 12 points in the second half.

“I’m so happy to see him shoot the ball like that in a big game when we needed it down the stretch,” Brownell said of Hunter. “They were doing a really good job of packing it in and it was really hard to get the ball to PJ and to Ian Schieffelin, so our guys had to make some shots from the perimeter.”

Clemson finished with 13 baskets from beyond the arc. Norchad Omier led Miami with 18 points. Nigel Pack played 25 minutes and was held scoreless in a game for the first time in his four-year career.

All told, Miami scored just three points over the final nine-plus minutes of play. Matthew Cleveland’s 3-pointer with 9:50 left gave the Hurricanes a six-point lead — their largest of the night — at 54-48. Clemson closed with a 24-3 run from there.

UP NEXT: Clemson is in a stretch of four out of five games at home. The Tigers return to Littlejohn Coliseum Saturday when they host NC State at 7:45 p.m. EST. The game will be televised regionally by the CW Network. The Wolfpack fell to Wake Forest, 83-79, last Saturday in Winston-Salem.

Clemson Tigers vs. Miami Hurricanes: How to Watch/Stream/Listen

Fresh off a pair of clutch road wins at No. 3 North Carolina and Syracuse, Clemson will look to build on its recent momentum when it returns to Littlejohn Coliseum Wednesday against Miami. Wednesday’s contest will mark the second meeting between the …

Fresh off a pair of clutch road wins at No. 3 North Carolina and Syracuse, Clemson will look to build on its recent momentum when it returns to Littlejohn Coliseum Wednesday against Miami.

Wednesday’s contest will mark the second meeting between the two schools this season, and Clemson (16-7 overall, 6-6 ACC) is hoping the second time around will go better than the first. When the Tigers and Hurricanes (15-9 overall, 6-7 ACC) met just over a month ago on January 3, Miami scored 60 points in the second half to storm past Clemson, 95-82.

Things haven’t gone exactly as either team had hoped since then.

Clemson entered that night ranked No. 16 nationally but proceeded to drop its first three games in conference play to start the new year. Miami, like much of the ACC, has underperformed this season. Despite returning three starters from a team that made an unexpected run to the Final Four last year, the ‘Canes have yet to show much consistency.

Miami has dropped three of its last four contests and is coming off a 75-72 loss to North Carolina last Saturday in Chapel Hill. With his team trailing by four with two seconds remaining, Miami’s Wooga Poplar intentionally missed a free-throw attempt in an effort to give the Hurricanes a chance at a rebound and a four-point play. Officials ruled that Miami had committed a lane violation.

The loss came five days after coach Jim Larrañaga’s team tallied a season-low 38 points in a Monday night loss at Virginia.

Norchad Omier leads Miami in scoring with an average of 17.7 points per game. He’s also averaging 10 rebounds a night. Nigel Pack is second with 14 points per game and averages a team-best 34 minutes.

For Clemson, Joe Girard had a big performance in his return to Syracuse — where he spent four years in Jim Boeheim’s program — over the past weekend. Girard scored a game-high 18 points in the Tigers’ 77-68 victory and is averaging 15 points per game this season.

PJ Hall has led Clemson in scoring this season and averages 20 points a game.

Series Notes and Recent History

The all-time series is tied, 17-17. Miami has won the last four meetings against Clemson dating back to the 2021 ACC Tournament.

How To Watch

Here’s a look at how and where Clemson fans can watch, listen, and stream Wednesday’s game against Miami.

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 14

Time: 7 p.m. EST

Where: Littlejohn Coliseum

TV Channel: ESPN2

Live Stream: ESPN+

Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | TuneIn App | SiriusXM (Channel 371)

Broadcast Teams

ESPN2: Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas

Clemson Radio: Don Munson, Tim Bourret

Bracketology: Clemson on the move in Joe Lunardi’s latest projections

A look at where Clemson ranks in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology projections for ESPN.

Clemson’s NCAA tournament hopes received a huge shot in the arm with road wins at No. 3 North Carolina and Syracuse last week.

The Tigers begin the second week of February at 16-7 overall and 6-6 in ACC play. They entered the year on a tear at 11-1 through their first 12 games but then proceeded to drop six of their next nine contests in conference play.

Thanks to the past week, the Tigers are on the move again, if only slightly. Clemson moved up two spots to a projected No. 6 seed in Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology update for ESPN.

Lunardi’s new projections have Clemson facing the winner of a play-in game between Nevada and Utah from the First Four competition in Dayton, Ohio.

The projected 6 vs. 11 matchup would be at Memphis’ FedEx Forum in the West Region of NCAA Tournament games, Lunardi forecasts.

Lunardi predicts that only four ACC teams will make this year’s NCAA Tournament: Clemson, North Carolina, Duke, and Virginia.

The lack of strong ACC presence in the tournament is something Lunardi points to as part of the conference’s overall decline in the past five years.

“For the first two decades of this century, the ACC averaged at least one top seed per year. The conference peaked in 2019, landing three of four No. 1 seeds, including national champion Virginia. Since then, there’s not been a single top line selection from the ACC, its longest drought since seeding began in 1979,” he writes.

Lunardi awards the SEC and Big 12 with the most bids by conference with nine apiece.

Clemson returns to the floor Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum when it hosts Miami (15-9, 6-7) in a rematch at 7 p.m. EST. The Tigers fell to the Hurricanes on Jan. 3 at Miami’s Watsco Center, 95-82. Wednesday’s game will be televised by ESPN2.

Clemson receives votes in latest AP Top 25 poll

A look at the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll for the week of Monday, February 12.

An upset win over No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a follow-up win at Syracuse was enough to garner Clemson some votes in the latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll released Monday, February 12.

The Tigers (16-7 overall, 6-6 ACC) took a big step toward solidifying their NCAA Tournament résumé when they won at the ‘Dean Dome’ last week, then followed it up with a gutsy win at Syracuse over the weekend.

Those two victories weren’t enough to vault the Tigers back into the Top 25, but they netted Clemson 57 votes from the various sportswriters and broadcasters who make up the poll.

It’s the fifth consecutive week that Clemson has remained out of the Top 25 after having been ranked No. 16 entering the year. The Tigers have gone just 5-6 since then, all against ACC competition. Clemson returns to action Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST when they host Miami at Littlejohn Coliseum. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

Defending national champion UConn (22-2 overall), winners of 12 straight games and unbeaten since December 20, remained atop the AP poll for the fifth consecutive week. The Huskies received 45 first-place votes.

Purdue (22-2) remained at No. 2, Houston (21-3) moved up to No. 3, and Marquette (18-5) and Arizona (19-5) each moved up three spots to Nos. 4 and No. 5.

Despite its loss to Clemson, North Carolina (19-5) remained the ACC’s highest-ranked team at No. 7. The Tar Heels dropped four spots from last week’s poll.

Duke (18-5) remained at No. 9, and red-hot Virginia (19-5) moved into the Top 25. The Cavaliers have won eight straight games entering the week, including their 66-65 victory over Clemson on February 3.

The Big 12 had the most ranked teams of any conference with six total. The SEC was second with five.

Elsewhere around the AP poll, No. 10 Iowa State and No. 11 South Carolina jumped four spots apiece. Wisconsin suffered the biggest drop, falling nine spots to No. 20 in Monday’s rankings. The Badgers had been ranked No. 6 just two weeks earlier.

Kentucky’s recent skid has seen the Wildcats drop from No. 6 to No. 22 in recent weeks.

What Brad Brownell said after Clemson’s win at Syracuse

A look at what Clemson coach Brad Brownell said following his team’s 77-68 win at Syracuse on Saturday.

It was hard for Clemson coach Brad Brownell not to be happy after his team’s gutsy 77-68 victory at Syracuse on Saturday.

The win over the Orange marked the first time all season the Tigers (16-7 overall, 6-6 ACC) had won back to back games in conference play. After beating No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill earlier in the week, Clemson made sure to avoid a letdown at the Carrier Dome.

The Tigers never trailed after the early going and had one of their better overall starts of the season, then withstood a second-half surge by Syracuse to close the game on a 17-8 run in the final 3:37.

Joe Girard led all scorers with 18 points and missed only two shots all afternoon in his return to Syracuse, where he spent four seasons under coach Jim Boeheim,

Here’s what Brownell said after the game.

On finishing strong down the stretch in back to back games:

“Obviously the free-throw shooting down the stretch was huge for our guys. Give Joe and Chase Hunter a ton of credit. It was kind of a strange game. Our starting unit did not guard well the first four minutes of either half. I thought our bench was terrific, giving us the jolt that we kind of needed. There’s been some games where those guys haven’t been able to help us and today they were big. That’s where the lead came from. RJ (Godfrey) was really good. I thought (Chauncey) Wiggins was good. Dillon (Hunter) was really good. I’m just proud of those guys.

“I give our older guys credit. I kind of got into them in a huddle midway through the second half. I was disappointed for a little bit because I thought we were just a little starry-eyed or what not. They thought it was going to be easy, but it’s not going to be easy. (Syracuse) was 11-1 up here. There was a huge crowd today, and they were fighting for their team. It gets loud in here, so we took a deep breath. PJ Hall had a great play off a dunk and then we had a great after-timeout play to Joe for a 3, but those were a couple of really good actions that got us some big baskets. Then defensively, we just kind of held on and held the ball against the (full-court) press.”

On Jack Clark’s performance (game-high 10 rebounds in 29 minutes):

“He did a good job on Chris Bell. When he was on Bell, he had maybe one mistake at the end of the game. The other times early on, he didn’t. Chris Bell is a hard cover because he’s so tall, and he shoots like he’s out of a phone booth. If you’re not in that phone booth with him, he just shoots over the top of you. Dillon was all over him one time, and he just shot on top of him. Dillon is 6-foot-4 and it still wasn’t tall enough. So I thought (Clark) did a good job of guarding. His presence with rebounding and even little things like passes against the press that you don’t think much about, he does them well. That’s certainly helped our team tremendously.”

On Joe Girard not letting his emotions affect him:

“I’m so proud of him. We’re trying to get him 12 shots a game and we run a bunch of different things, but when they put Judah Mintz on him and they just chase him everywhere, it’s like Reece Beekman from Virginia. Those dudes are panther-type athletes. Those dudes do an unbelievable job. They’re right on top of screens and they’re connected. It’s hard to break (Girard) free.

“To Joe’s credit, he did not take bad shots. He stayed within the offense. He moved and he accepted that sometimes he’s not going to get a shot. When they guard like that, sometimes it opens up room for other players. Chase Hunter has room to drive and has more space to post the ball. So just Joe being on the floor is significant from that (standpoint), but the efficiency is what it comes down to. Joe’s efficiency is so good: 5-for-6 (field goals), and then he makes all his free throws. There are a lot of guys that score 20 in games, but they take 20 shots to get them. Joe rarely does that. His poise down the stretch and the way he wanted the ball and helped us break press and deal with pressure, he was terrific.”

On getting past 21 turnovers:

“Our big guys just did not do a good job. Ian (Schieffelin) barely practiced Friday. He’s battling some stuff and even PJ, we had to sit him out two days. It’s hard when guys don’t practice, but you can’t simulate this kind of speed and athleticism. Maliq Brown is a tough hombre. I liked that kid for Syracuse. He plays hard and tough and has his hands on everything.

“It was hard for PJ to get comfortable, and I thought one of the moves he made at the end, one of the tough power moves, he multi-pivoted. That’s just a grown-man basket. That basket by PJ Hall, there are only three guys in our league that can make that play. It was a phenomenal play. It was tough all day and they were unrelenting in that they kept pressuring those big guys every second. We kept trying to do different things to try to move them around.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Clemson returns to the court Wednesday night when the Tigers host Miami at 7 p.m. EST at Littlejohn Coliseum. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

Joe Girard leads Clemson past Syracuse, 77-68

Clemson got 18 points from Joe Girard, who earned his 2,000th career point in his return to his Syracuse, and Clemson defeated the Orange, 77-68, at JMA Wireless Dome Saturday.

Clemson got 18 points from Joe Girard, who reached 2,000th career points in his return to Syracuse, and the Tigers defeated the Orange, 77-68, at JMA Wireless Dome Saturday.

The win marks the first time the Tigers (16-7 overall, 6-6 ACC) have posted back to back wins in conference play this season.

Girard was a big reason why. He made five of his six shots for the game, including four of five from 3-point range, to lead Clemson in scoring.

“I’m proud of him. He did not take bad shots. He stayed within the offense,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said of Girard afterwards.

Clemson made 60 percent of its shots in Saturday’s contest. PJ Hall had 15 points, Ian Schieffelin added 11, and Chase Hunter finished with 10 in the Tigers’ victory — their first at Syracuse since 2016.

Similar to Tuesday’s win at No. 3 North Carolina, Clemson got out to a big lead early but had to withstand a second-half surge to hold on.

The Tigers used a 14-0 run in the first half to open up a 15-point lead at 27-12 when Girard sank a long 3-pointer near the under-8 media timeout. It was part of an 18-2 overall run by Clemson, which led 35-24 by halftime.

Syracuse (15-9 overall, 6-7 ACC) made their run in the second half, and when JJ Starling hit a fadeaway jumper with 3:37 left, the game was tied at 60-all. Clemson answered when Hall went right back down the floor and made a spin move for a layup to put the Tigers back on top.

Turns out, Clemson wouldn’t look back.

Hunter drove to the rim on the Tigers next possession to lay one in with 2:37 to play to make it 64-60. Girard then hit Schieffelin for a wide-open 3-pointer to push the lead to 67-60 with under two minutes to play. Schieffelin would hit another basket under heavy pressure with 1:31 left to up the lead to 69-61.

Hunter sank two foul shots to close things out for Clemson’s last points of the afternoon to cap the game’s scoring.

But it was Girard who stole the show in his return to his old stomping grounds. The fifth-year senior from Glens Falls, N.Y. spent fours seasons at Syracuse under legendary coach Jim Boeheim before transferring to Clemson after the 2023 season.

“Joe’s efficiency is so good,” Brownell said. “There are a lot of guys that score 20 points in games, but they take 20 shots to get them. Joe rarely does that, and his poise down the stretch and the way he wanted the ball helped us break press and deal with pressure. He was terrific.”

Syracuse shot just 39 percent in the game and had two costly scoring droughts. They went over six minutes without a basket in the first half as Clemson built its 15-point lead, then went 4:36 without a basket in the second half.

By contrast, Clemson had one of its best starts of the season. The Tigers made 57 percent of their first-half shots and out-rebounded Syracuse, 26-11. Hunter managed to get off a shot at the buzzer with just one-tenth of a second on the clock to close out the half.

Clemson ended the day with 41 rebounds to Syracuse’s 24.

UP NEXT: Clemson will return to action on Wednesday when they host Miami at 7 p.m. EST at Littlejohn Coliseum. The game will be televised by ESPN2. The two teams met back on January 3 in Miami, a 95-82 Hurricanes victory.

Clemson Tigers vs. Syracuse Orange: How to Watch/Stream/Listen

A look at how and where Clemson fans can watch, stream and listen to Saturday’s game against Syraucse.

After a thrilling upset of No. 3 North Carolina on Tuesday night in Chapel Hill, Clemson will look to do something it hasn’t done all season when it takes the floor at Syracuse Saturday at noon — win back-to-back games in conference play.

The Tigers (15-7 overall, 5-6 ACC) received a big shot in the arm, to say nothing of a huge boost to their NCAA Tournament résumé, with their 80-76 victory over the Tar Heels this week. Clemson currently is ranked 24th in strength of schedule by ESPN and has Quad 1 wins over Carolina, Pitt, Alabama, and TCU.

But the Tigers haven’t won back to back games since December and have struggled with consistency since ACC play resumed on January 3, something that head coach Brad Brownell alluded to after the victory over North Carolina.

“I’ve said a couple of times that I think we’re playing better than our ACC record. But we are what our record says we are, so we’ve got to finish some games,” Brownell said. “Our guys have really hung in there. They’ve battled and stayed pretty positive. They’re working hard in practice every day. We just haven’t had many good results.”

Clemson can change that with a win against a Syracuse team that’s had similar results in conference action. The Orange (15-8 overall, 6-6 ACC) have also struggled with consistency in Adrian Autry’s first season since the retirement of legendary coach Jim Boeheim.

Syracuse is led in scoring by sophomore Judah Mintz, who averages 18.3 points per game and had 21 in the team’s 94-92 victory over Louisville earlier this week. JJ Starling averages 13 points per game and has been more of a factor of late. Chris Bell (formerly Chris Bunch) is coming off a career-high 30-point showing for Syracuse.

For Clemson, PJ Hall has been the Tigers’ rock all season. His points-per-game average is up to 20 after a team-high 25 points in Tuesday’s win at Chapel. Hall has had seven games of 25 points or more this season .

Joe Girard is averaging 15 points per game and had 21 against UNC, including five 3-pointers.

Series Notes and Recent History

Clemson leads the all-time head to head series with Syracuse, 8-6. All but two of those meetings have occurred since the Orange joined the ACC in 2013-14. The Tigers won the last meeting between the two schools, 91-73, in February of last year at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson hasn’t won at Syracuse since 2016.

How To Watch

Here’s a look at how and where Clemson fans can watch, listen, and stream Saturday’s game.

Date: Saturday, Feb. 10

Time: 12 p.m. EST

Where: JMA Wireless Dome (Carrier Dome)

TV Channel: ESPN2

Live Stream: ESPN+

Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | TuneIn App | SiriusXM (Channel 381)

Broadcast Teams

ESPN2: Jay Alter, Malcolm Huckaby

Clemson Radio: Don Munson, Jim Davis

What Brad Brownell said after Clemson’s upset win over North Carolina

A look at what Clemson coach Brad Brownell said after the Tigers’ 80-76 victory over North Carolina on Tuesday night.

Clemson pulled one of the biggest upsets of the season in the ACC when it defeated No. 3 North Carolina, 80-76, on Tuesday night at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill.

A 7.5-point underdog with losses in six of their last nine contests entering the night, the Tigers (15-7 overall, 5-6 ACC) stormed out to a 15-2 lead and led by as many as 16 in the first half before North Carolina (18-5, 10-2) eventually tied the game at 70-all with around four minutes to play in regulation.

Clemson closed things out with a 10-6 run to earn just the program’s second win all-time in Chapel Hill.

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

On getting a big win:

“I’m really happy for these guys. I’ve said a couple of times that I think we’re playing better than our ACC record, but we are what our record says we are so we’ve got to finish some games. Our guys have really hung in there. I think they’ve battled and stayed pretty positive. They’re working hard in practice every day. We just haven’t had many good results.

“The start to the game was huge. Obviously it gave our guys a big shot in the arm and some confidence, and then we weathered the storm. This place was loud. I think we shocked them early. For the last 30 minutes, it got loud in here and I thought our guys handled that very well. They made some big plays down the stretch. It’s just a big win for us. “

On his approach to the team at the beginning of the game and what he hoped to achieve on offense:

“Just play with confidence. Move the ball and move ourselves. We got some stops. I thought we were able to get out a little bit. I told them, ‘We don’t want to run on made baskets every time, but occasionally we’re going to push it.’ We want to get down the floor. We want to attack, we want to move the ball, look inside. We knew they (North Carolina) were going to do a couple of things in their pick and roll that we kind of exploited. We knew if our guards attacked down hill, we could get a throwback 3 to some of our bigs.

“I told PJ Hall, ‘Knock these in, man. These are the same ones you’ve been getting, but you’re ready.’ He got off to a good start. (Carolina) ended up changing their coverage probably around halftime or late in the first half. We had to make some adjustments again. I thought our games hung in there. I’m proud of the way we rebounded the ball. We only had five turnovers. We did some unbelievable things, rebounding 43 (shots), 11 offensive boards, and then to only have 14 assists and five turnovers in a game like this, with this pressure, is pretty good play.”

On Joe Girard’s 21 points and six rebounds:

“Huge. We need that because Ian (Schieffelin) and PJ can only do so much. They’ve been battling pretty well and had 11 and nine rebounds, but we’ve got to get those guards swooping down and grabbing a few. That was really important for us. It was hard to stop those guys. I thought we changed defenses enough to at least slow the game down a little, especially in that first half. This was a hard-fought one down the stretch.”

On UNC’s RJ Davis scoring 22 points but needing 22 shots:

“That was really big. They sometimes play and we forget the simple things. At the beginning of the game, we’re playing so well and (Armando) Bacot is taking it upon himself to try to keep them in it. We did a good job on Davis and then midway through the game, it kind of flipped and Davis started trying to take over. I just told our players that if we got help off some of these other guys to try to make it really hard for Bacot and Davis. Getting Davis to shoot 22 balls for 22 points, that’s huge for us. That really helps the percentages. And then I just thought we battled as well as we could. Bacot is a real tough matchup.”

Clemson takes down No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill

Clemson built a 16-point lead over ACC rival and No. 3-ranked North Carolina on Tuesday and held on for an 80-76 victory at the Dean Smith Center.

Clemson built a 16-point lead over ACC rival and No. 3-ranked North Carolina on Tuesday night and held on for an 80-76 victory at the Dean Smith Center.

The win was just the second in program history by a Tigers team visiting Chapel Hill.

Clemson (15-7 overall, 5-6 conference) put North Carolina and its home crowd on notice early by jumping out to a 15-2 lead.

The Tigers hit their first six shots of the game, including a pair of 3-pointers from PJ Hall and another from Joe Girard. The hot start forced North Carolina coach Hubert Davis to take a timeout before the first media stoppage.

North Carolina (18-5, 10-2) ended the half on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to 43-34 at intermission. As expected, the Tar Heels would make a run in the second half and evened the score at 70-all when Harrison Ingram drained a 3-pointer with 4:19 to play in regulation.

But unlike other late-game efforts this season, Clemson withstood the charge.

Girard sank the last of his five 3-pointers with just over two minutes to play to extend the Clemson lead to 75-70. By that point, North Carolina had gone over 2:30 without a basket. Jack Clark went to the foul line on the Tigers’ next possession with 1:42 to play and sank both baskets to increase the lead to 77-70.

North Carolina threatened a late run after Clark missed a 3-pointer that would have extended the Clemson lead to nine, and after a bizarre turnover from Hall, who would later sink two foul shots to close out the victory.

Hall finished with 25 points in just 27 minutes to lead the Tigers in scoring. Girard added 21 points, including his five 3-pointers. Ian Schieffelin had 14 points — 12 of which came in the second half — to go with 11 rebounds.

Unlike four years ago, when Clemson snapped an 0-59 lifetime winless streak on Carolina’s home court, the Tigers never even trailed Tuesday.

“The start to the game was huge,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said afterwards. “I think we shocked them early. For the last 30 minutes, it got loud in here and I thought our guys handled it very well and made some big plays down the stretch. It’s a big win for us.”

Armando Bacot’s 24 points led North Carolina, and RJ Davis scored 22 to pass Michael Jordan for 15th on the list of all-time leading scorers in UNC history.

Clemson built its largest of the night at 41-25 in the first half after Clark cut to the basket and sank a shot off the glass with 2:33 to play until halftime.

The Tigers shot 48.5 percent in the first half on 16 of 33 attempts. By contrast, Carolina shot just 31 percent in the opening half and missed on 11 of 15 attempts from 3-point range.

UP NEXT: Clemson travels to Syracuse for a noon tipoff Saturday at the JMA Wireless Dome (or Carrier Dome). The game will be televised by ESPN2.