Clemson was either going to let another opportunity slip away or change the narrative agaisnt a Miami (OH) team that was picked to finish No. 7 in the Mid-American Conference reason poll.
Needless to say, they chose the latter option in the team’s 89-76 victory Tuesday night. Clemson used five double-digit scorers to rally past Miami for its second consecutive non-conference victory.
After another lackluster start to half of play, something clicked. The Tigers couldn’t miss in the second half and neither could Alex Hemenway. Behind the junior forward’s team-high 17 points, Clemson eventually cruised to a much-needed win.
With just under nine minutes to play, Hemenway took a handoff from Naz Bohannon and fired off a shot from just beyond the 3-point line.
Hemenway got the shot off quickly and drew immediate contact. He finished off the 4-point play to tie the game at 59. Then, the switch flipped.
The Tigers made the shots when they counted, even if their offensive play was inconsistent, to say the least.
Clemson got off to a relatively uncharacteristic start offensively. While Miami was getting shots to fall, the Tigers couldn’t seem to find their footing.
Clemson started to claw back after Miami took a 5-point lead (27-22) with just under five minutes to play in the first frame. That’s when Clemson found some of the offensive prowess it was missing for the game’s first 15 minutes.
Al-Amir Dawes drained shots from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions. Down the stretch, Dawes, Hemenway and Nick Honor combined for 14 points and provided the necessary jolt for Clemson to take a 1-point lead (36-35) heading into the break.
As the Tigers have done for most of the season, they weren’t able to build off the momentum they created in the first half. For the start of the second half, Clemson came out flat offensively. Again.
Heading into the first media timeout of the second frame, the Redhawks went on a 12-5 run to take a 6-point lead.
After the Redhawks held their largest lead of the game at 57-49, Clemson went on a 20-2 run and held Miami without a made field goal for over five minutes of play.
The Tigers started connecting on all cylinders as a team. They couldn’t miss from beyond the arc and defended Miami aggressively behind the defensive play of both P.J. Hall and Hunter Tyson.
That run catapulted Clemson into the driver’s seat, allowing it to take control of Tuesday’s win.