Clemson’s men’s basketball season will see at least one more day.
The Tigers stayed hot Tuesday with a 70-64 win over North Carolina State in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. PJ Hall recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Tigers, who ran their winning streak to season-best five games with their latest victory inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
It wasn’t always the prettiest performance against the ACC’s last-place team during the regular season for the Tigers, who shot 41.7% from the field and made just 6 of 23 3-point shots. But Clemson (17-15) came up with timely makes to advance to a second-round matchup with Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
Hall (foot inflammation) returned to the starting lineup for the first time in four games and scored eight points in the first half to help Clemson take a 29-24 advantage into the break. N.C. State (11-21), behind a game-high 19 points from Dereon Seabron, stayed close early in the second half, getting within a possession at 39-36 with 12:18 left.
But the Tigers ripped off a quick 8-0 run capped by consecutive 3s from Honor and eventually pushed their lead back to double digits. The Wolfpack made another push to get within six with 5:48 remaining, but Hall chased down a loose ball to retain Clemson’s ensuing possession before finding Dawes alone on the wing for another 3.
A few possessions later, Hall rebounded a couple of misses, including one of his own, and kicked out to Hunter, who buried a corner 3 to get the Tigers’ advantage back to double digits, 60-50, with 4:10 left.
N.C. State made one last push, again trimming the deficit to two possessions in the final 2 minutes. But Clemson made six of its final nine free throws to keep the Wolfpack at bay down the stretch.
This story will be updated.
Photo courtesy of the USA Today Sports Network
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