Little ol’ Clemson is headed to the Elite Eight.
Chase Hunter scored 18 points to continue his torrid stretch in March, Clemson’s defense held Arizona to just 37 percent shooting from the field, and the sixth-seeded Tigers knocked off the second-seeded Wildcats, 77-72, in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
The win marks only the second time in school history that Clemson has reached the Elite Eight of the tournament. It will be the program’s first Elite Eight appearance since 1980.
Clemson held Arizona’s Caleb Love, the 2023-24 Pac-12 Player of the Year, to just 13 points on 5-of-18 shots Thursday. The Tigers got 17 points from PJ Hall and 14 from Schieffelin, who each staved off foul trouble and gave the team another outstanding performance. The Tigers shot almost 50 percent from the field (29-of-59).
As it did against Baylor, Clemson (24-11 overall) got off to a strong start against Arizona. RJ Godfrey and Chauncey Wiggins connected on 3-pointers as part of an early 10-2 run that gave the Tigers a 16-6 lead.
Clemson would go up by as many as 13 points when Wiggins notched his second 3-pointer of the half to make it 27-14 with 7:16 left until halftime. The Tigers carried a 39-31 lead into intermission. They shot 53 percent from the field in the first half and made 5-of-11 shots from behind the arc.
Arizona (27-9) began making its push in the second half. After an 8-0 Wildcats run tied the game, coach Tommy Lloyd’s team took its first lead when Love made a layup after a steal by Kylan Boswell.
Clemson never backed down in this cat battle.
The Tigers answered with clutch 3-pointers from Jack Clark and Joe Girard to go back ahead, 53-48. When Hall slipped inside a defender and caught a wide-open pass from Schieffelin for a dunk, it gave Clemson a 65-58 lead with 7:45 to play. Arizona had missed eight straight 3-pointers at that point, and they spent a stretch where 14 of their 16 points were scored solely off free throws.
Jaden Bradley struck with a 3-pointer with 52 seconds to play to cut the Tigers’ lead to 72-70. But on the next possession, Hunter was able to drive through the lane for a three-point play after bleeding the shot clock. Bradley fouled Hunter going to the rim, and Hunter’s basket and subsequent free throw put Clemson ahead at 75-70 with just 25 seconds left.
Dillon Hunter caught a wide-open lob for a layup with 10 seconds left for the game’s final points.
Bradley was Arizona’s leading scorer with 17 points.
Clemson will face the winner of Thursday night’s Alabama-North Carolina matchup in the West Region Final on Saturday. The Tigers defeated both the Crimson Tide and the Tar Heels in the regular season, winning 85-77 in Tuscaloosa on November 28 and 80-76 in Chapel Hill on February 6.