Tag: Jaeden Zackery

Behind new and old faces, Clemson basketball cruises in 2024-25 season opener

Chase Hunter and transfer Myles Foster lead the way for Clemson in the Tigers’ 2024-25 season opener.

Sixth-year senior Chase Hunter and Illinois State transfer Myles Foster both scored 17 points, and the Clemson Tigers men’s basketball team defeated Charleston Southern, 91-64, to win its 2024-25 season opener Monday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Tigers (1-0) led 48-24 at halftime and finished the night shooting 49.2 percent from the field. Hunter, who returned to Clemson after forgoing the NBA draft, played 23 minutes and shot 6-of-9 from the field (3-for-3 from 3-point range) in the Tigers’ opening night dub.

Foster, a fifth-year senior who averaged 12.5 points per game in each of the past two seasons, scored 17 points over 17 minutes in his Clemson debut.

Some other new faces contributed to the Tigers’ success, as well.

Cincinnati Bearcats transfer Viktor Lahkin started and played 16 minutes, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting. Former Boston College guard Jaeden Zackery also started and played 26 minutes. He scored six points (3-5) in his first game in a Clemson uniform.

Senior forward and fan favorite Ian Schieffelin played a team-high 30 minutes and had eight points to go with nine rebounds.

For coach Brad Brownell, it marked the start of his 15th season at the helm in Clemson. He is the second longest-tenured coach in the ACC behind Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton (2002-present). Brownell led the Tigers to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season.

Clemson returns to the court Friday night when the Tigers welcome St. Francis (PA) to Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. ET. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra or ESPN+.

Notre Dame drops another close contest to Boston College

The Irish still can’t win a close game with the Eagles.

When Notre Dame lost a close road contest to Boston College over a week-and-a-half ago, much of it had to do with Quinten Post getting hot. When the teams met again Saturday in South Bend, Post scored 10 points before fouling out with 4:03 left.

Despite losing Post for the stretch run, the Eagles had their biggest lead at seven, and it proved to be just enough to deal the Irish a 61-58 loss. Devin McGlockton led the Eagles with 15 points.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first half, but when points started coming more frequently in the second half, the Irish (7-13, 2-7) simply didn’t score enough. Although they only trailed, 57-55, in the final minute, Jaeden Zackery made a close shot with 30 seconds left to put the Eagles (12-8, 3-6) up four. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] missed a 3, and Zackery got the rebound before being fouled by [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] and making two free throws.

Surprisingly, that didn’t end the game. A Shrewsberry 3 cut the Eagles’ six-point lead in half with barely any time remaining. The Eagles then couldn’t inbound the ball cleanly, and a replay review gave the Irish a chance to send the game to overtime with 0.8 seconds left. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] got an open look from 3-point range at the very top of the key, but he missed at the buzzer.

Konieczny flirted with a double-double by virtue of 15 points (13 in the first half) and eight rebounds. Shrewsberry scored all of his 14 points in the second half with 12 of them coming on four 3-pointers. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] had 10 points (eight in the second half) and a game-high seven assists, but he also committed a game-high five turnovers.

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Notre Dame drops tough one at Boston College before weeklong break

They’ll win games like this down the road, but not this year.

Before taking a week off from games, Notre Dame had to play twice in three days. [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] lamented this schedule quirk after the loss to Florida State, but the Irish had no choice but to travel to Boston College. It almost was worth the trip as the Irish stayed in it throughout a 63-59 loss.

The Irish (7-11, 2-5) led the majority of the game and were up by as much as 12 in the first half. They were up by six with over five minute left when Quinten Post scored eight unanswered points to put the Eagles (11-6, 2-4) up two. After [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] hit free throws to tie it at 57 with 3:10 left, neither team scored for the next 2:20.

Post hit a 3 with 50 seconds remaining to put the Eagles back up. Konieczny was whistled for an offensive foul, which was followed by Claudell Harris Jr. splitting free throws. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was fouled on a layup that made it 61-59, and he missed the ensuring free throw, but the Irish got the rebound and called a timeout with 11.7 seconds left to draw a play that could tie or win the game.

[autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag] quickly found an open corner 3 that missed, and Chas Kelley III got the rebound, which led to him icing the game with two free throws. So close, and yet, so far.

Jaeden Zackery led all scorers with 20 points, but it was Post who stole the show for the Eagles with 15 of his 17 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers.

Burton led the Irish with 19 points but committed seven second-half turnovers. In all, the Eagles scored 22 points off 19 Irish turnovers. That negated Burton’s scoring performance along with that of reigning ACC Rookie of the Week [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] (12 points).

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Notre Dame blows lead vs. Boston College, still winless in ACC play

It just keeps going from bad to worse.

Forget March Madness. The way this season is going for Notre Dame, it will be lucky to see any postseason play. After leading Boston College the entire game, the Irish let it slip away at the 37:19 mark and didn’t get it back in a 70-63 loss. Based on that score, you never would have known the Irish were in control most of the way.

The Irish (8-7, 0-4) led by as much as 10 early in the second half. While the Eagles (8-7, 2-2) slowly chipped into that lead, the Irish had an answer for every threat. That changed in the final four minutes as the Eagles finished the game on a 17-4 run after trailing by six. They made their final five field-goal attempts while the Irish finished 1 of 9 with the one basket coming on a layup after three straight missed layups with seconds to play and the game’s outcome decided.

To make matters worse, [autotag]Ven-Allen Lubin[/autotag] went down with an ankle injury in the first half and didn’t return. Early indications are that the injury isn’t serious, but we should find out how accurate that is in the coming days. In the meantime, the Irish are dealing with both a major hit to their depth and a first conference that continues to elude them.

Jaeden Zackery led all scorers and the Eagles with a season-high 18 points. Prince Aligbe had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Makai Ashton-Langford scored 12 points. Quinten Post, who was involved in the play that injured Lubin, finished one rebound short of a double-double with 10 points and nine boards. DeMarr Langford Jr. dished out a game-high eight assists.

[autotag]JJ Starling[/autotag] and a flu-ridden [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] tied for the Irish high with 16 points, and Goodwin’s six rebounds tied [autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] for another team high. [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] scored 11 points.

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Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

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