Nick Honor – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Clemson knocks off N.C. State, advances in ACC Tournament

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 …

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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Perimeter shooting suddenly a ‘problematic’ trend for Clemson

PJ Hall did all he could to try to help Clemson stop the bleeding. The Tigers’ sophomore big, who has a strong case as the ACC’s most improved player this season, poured in more points than he ever has in his first two seasons in the men’s …

PJ Hall did all he could to try to help Clemson stop the bleeding.

The Tigers’ sophomore big, who has a strong case as the ACC’s most improved player this season, poured in more points than he ever has in his first two seasons in the men’s basketball program. Despite foot inflammation he’s dealt with for much of the season and being at the top of every opponent’s scouting report at this point, Hall still scored a career-high 28 points on 8 of 13 shooting from the floor and 12 of 13 shooting from the free-throw line Tuesday at Florida State.

“Obviously his efficiency in the offense (Tuesday) was fantastic,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said of Hall, who’s averaging 21.2 points over the last five games. “I’m super proud of him. The kid is in a (walking) boot 90% of every day. He’s walking to games in boots. He’s giving us everything he has, and (Tuesday) he was special in terms of finishing plays.”

But, for multiple reasons, it was all for naught in an 81-80 loss to the Seminoles, which ran Clemson’s longest losing streak in five years to five games.

One was FSU guard RayQuan Evans, who scored 20.5 more points than his season average to match Hall’s 28 on a night when the Seminoles shot nearly 44% from the field and 42% from 3-point range (8 of 19). Throw in 17 points from forward Cam’Ron Fletcher, who came in averaging just 5.9 on the season, and it helped FSU overcome the absence of four of its top six scorers because of injuries.

Hall also didn’t get much help offensively from the backcourt, which has become a trend during Clemson’s skid. Junior guard Al-Amir Dawes bounced back from an 0-for-6 shooting performance against Notre Dame to score 18 points Tuesday, but the Tigers’ guards combined to make just 24.4% of their shots, which included a 23% clip from 3-point range.

Nick Honor and Chase Hunter combined to go 1 of 13 from the field. David Collins, back after his one-game suspension, shot 2 of 3 but missed his lone 3-point attempt.

“They’re not playing quite as well as I’d like or probably they’d like,” Brownell said. “There’s great effort, I thought. But we’re not making enough shots from the perimeter. And it’s problematic for us.”

Dawes, who shot 4 of 10 from beyond the arc, accounted for all but two of Clemson’s buckets from deep. In fact, Dawes is the only guard that’s made more than two 3-point shots in a game during the Tigers’ losing streak.

It’s uncharacteristic of Clemson, which still ranks fifth in the ACC in 3-point field-goal percentage (36.7). But the Tigers’ perimeter shooting has been a real struggle without stretch forward Hunter Tyson, who was shooting nearly 39% from 3 before breaking his clavicle in Clemson’s most recent win back on Feb. 2.

Clemson is shooting just 28.3% from 3-point range during its losing streak. The Tigers have gone three straight games with six made 3s or fewer. They haven’t made more than eight since sinking 11 3s against Duke on Jan. 25, which was seven games ago.

Brownell admitted there have been “a few bad ones.” But, for the most part, he said getting quality looks from deep hasn’t been the issue.

“The last two games (against Notre Dame and Duke), we have five and six turnovers, and we only score in the low 60s because we don’t make enough shots,” Brownell said. “It’s hard. It’s not like we’re not executing things. That’s the frustrating part. … When we go back and analyze it, we’re getting the ball to places where we like, and we’re just not making enough shots to be consistent to win.”

Clemson’s final possession against FSU was a prime example. After Evans converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Seminoles the lead with 14.4 seconds left, Brownell called a timeout with 4 ticks remaining once Clemson got the ball past halfcourt to draw up one last play.

Hunter inbounded the ball to Hall near the wing. As Hall tried to drive toward the basket, three defenders converged on him, leaving Alex Hemenway alone near the corner. Hall found him for a clean look at the buzzer, but Hemenway’s shot bounced off the front of the rim, capping a 2-of-8 shooting night from deep for a 39.5% 3-point shooter.

“We had obviously our best shooter coming open,” Brownell said. “Alex got a wide-open shot. It’s as good a shot as you’re going to get under the circumstances. He makes it a lot, and unfortunately it was short and didn’t go.”

Clemson’s next opportunity to end its late-season slide will come Saturday at Louisville. More consistent complementary play from the backcourt would go a long way in helping the Tigers’ chances.

“We have to do better,” Brownell said.

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Clemson going through type of late-season funk it hasn’t experienced in nearly a decade

Clemson’s men’s basketball team returned to Littlejohn Coliseum five days ago hoping to stop the bleeding. Yet after a three-game homestand, the Tigers are just trying to make sure they don’t start hemorrhaging. Clemson capped an eventful and …

Clemson capped an eventful and winless week with a 76-61 loss on Saturday to the ACC’s co-leader, Notre Dame. That came on the heels of a blowout loss to No. 7 Duke that included an ejection and subsequent one-game suspension for senior guard David Collins and a narrow setback to North Carolina in a game that was up for grabs until the final seconds.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “I thought we fought pretty hard. You’re playing three of the best teams in the league. The first game, we’ve got the lead with a minute to go and have a chance to win. The second game, we battle for a half and, the first five or six minutes of the second half, we’re hanging in there. And then Duke pulls away with size and numbers. And they played well.

“Then Notre Dame was ready. I thought they had a good plan. We got punched in the mouth. Right away, we’re down double figures, and it’s hard. We could’ve caved. But I thought our kids fought, and we battled back several times.”

For the fourth straight game, though, Clemson came up short, which hasn’t happened to the Tigers this late in a season in nearly a decade. The last time Clemson had a four-game losing streak beginning in February was 2013 when the Tigers lost seven straight to end that season.

The 2012-13 campaign was also the last time Clemson had a losing season. With six games left this season (not counting the ACC Tournament), the Tigers are in danger of ending that streak, too.

Clemson fell to 12-13 overall with Saturday’s loss, the first time all season the Tigers have dipped below .500. They also fell to 4-10 in ACC play, which has another streak – four straight seasons with at least nine regular-season conference wins – in jeopardy, too.

The Tigers have lost eight of their last 10 games overall. If the ACC Tournament started today, Clemson would be the No. 13 seed in the 15-team event. Only Georgia Tech, which began Clemson’s losing streak on Feb. 5, and North Carolina State have worse records in league play so far.

Asked following Saturday’s game how he tries to go about keeping his players engaged in an effort to keep this season from further unraveling, Brownell said it starts with heavy doses of honesty and truth.

“When I think we play well, we talk about it. And when I don’t think we’re playing as well as we can, we talk about that,” Brownell said. “As much as anything, you try to remind them of their development and then remind them of the opportunity they’re in. They’re playing ACC basketball at a great school and in a program that we’re proud of what we’re doing. So it’s easy to get a little whoa is me, feel sorry for yourself and get wrapped up in all of that, but, man, there are a lot of people that would like to trade places with you. And you better be mindful of that.”

Of course, there’s a caveat to the Tigers’ skid besides the quality of competition they have faced.

Senior forward Hunter Tyson, the team’s third-leading rebounder and fourth-leading scorer, didn’t play in any of the last four games after sustaining a broken clavicle in Clemson’s last win Feb. 2 against Florida State. Clemson got yet another double-digit scoring output from leading scorer PJ Hall (19 points) against Notre Dame while point guard Nick Honor added 12 in his just his second start in the last nine games, but the Tigers didn’t have their leading rebounder in Collins, who was suspended for his flagrant foul on Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. two nights earlier.

Clemson also missed the defense of the 6-foot-4 Collins against a Notre Dame team that shot better than 54% from 3-point range (13 of 24).

“Would’ve loved to go 3-0 this week,” said junior guard Alex Hemenway, who matched a season-high with 26 minutes and scored eight points against Notre Dame in Collins’ absence. “I feel like this is another speed bump we’ve just got to overcome this season. We’ve had a lot of them, but I still believe we can turn this thing around.”

The schedule eases up a bit the rest of the way with four of the Tigers’ last six regular-season games coming against teams in the bottom half of the league standings. It starts with a trip on Tuesday to face a Florida State team that’s without four of its top six scorers because of injuries, but Clemson hasn’t won a road game since beating N.C. State back on Jan. 8.

The Tigers haven’t lost five consecutive games since losing six straight conference games during the 2016-17 season.

“It’s easy to have some discourse right now, but we’re sticking in there,” Brownell said. “We’re battling hard. We’ve got another chance on Tuesday to try to bounce back and continue to play a little bit better.”

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Clemson knocks off Florida State

The last time Clemson’s men’s basketball team went on an extended break, the Tigers lost their first game back and went on to lose three of four after that. How this return to play pans out over the next couple of weeks remains to be seen, but it’s …

The last time Clemson’s men’s basketball team went on an extended break, the Tigers lost their first game back and went on to lose three of four after that.

How this return to play pans out over the next couple of weeks remains to be seen, but it’s already off to a better start.

Clemson got 15 points from PJ Hall and 12 apiece from Nick Honor and Chase Hunter, and the Tigers held off Florida State for a 75-69 win Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson, playing for the first time since its narrow loss at Duke eight days earlier, also got 11 points from Naz Bohannon to notch its fourth Quadrant 2 victory.

It’s the second time since late December that Clemson (12-9, 4-6 ACC) has returned from a pause lasting more than a week. The first time, which happened after the Tigers’ Dec. 29 home game against Duke was postponed (COVID-19 protocols), Clemson suffered a 17-point loss in a rematch against a Virginia team it hadn’t beaten on the road 13 days earlier.

Even without senior forward Hunter Tyson, who left late in the first half with an upper body injury and didn’t return, Clemson didn’t show as much rust this time around, shooting 52% from the field to lead FSU wire to wire. That included a handful of double-digit cushions, though the Tigers didn’t make it easy on themselves.

Clemson led 57-46 with 14:27, but FSU’s size and length was a problem at times for the Tigers, who committed 14 turnovers leading to 14 points that helped the Seminoles (14-8, 6-5) chip away. Clemson saw its lead dwindle to 69-67 with 2:25 left after a free throw from Caleb Mills, who led FSU with 16 points.

But FSU didn’t get any closer thanks in large part to Hall, who knocked down four consecutive free throws and blocked a shot in the final 2 minutes. The Tigers also coaxed a turnover with a five-second call on one of FSU’s final possessions, holding the Seminoles without a bucket for the final 3:14.

RayQuan Evans added 11 points for the Seminoles, who played without their third-third leading scorer, Malik Osborne (injury).

Clemson led 45-36 at the half after getting off to a hot shooting start. The Tigers sank 61% of its shots from the field, including six straight to create some separation at the end of the half.

Honor’s jumper just before the buzzer capped Clemson’s late first-half surge after FSU tied the game at 30 with 4:15 left before the break. Honor had 10 first-half points while Bohannon added nine off the bench to help the Tigers keep their distance despite Hall playing just eight minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls.

Part of the reason FSU was able to keep the deficit at single digits in the opening 20 minutes was its defense. The Seminoles forced nine of their x turnovers in the first half, scoring 10 points off of those.

But Clemson went the final 4:17 without coughing up a possession and ended the half on a 15-6 spurt.

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‘Everything is up for discussion’ as Clemson tries to snap out of sudden funk

After another setback that has his team riding its longest losing streak of the season, Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell isn’t ruling anything out that might help keep the reeling to a minimum. “Everything is up for discussion right …

“Everything is up for discussion right now,” Brownell said. “We’re not playing well enough.”

Clemson (10-8, 2-5 ACC) lost for the fourth time in five games late Tuesday night when Syracuse dealt the Tigers a 91-78 blow inside the Carrier Dome. It was Clemson’s third straight loss, a funk that escalated quickly.

This time a week ago, the Tigers were coming off their fifth win in six games after knocking off North Carolina State on the road. Since then, Clemson has been beaten by nearly 11 points on average, including that loss to Boston College over the weekend that the Tigers led by 23 at one point.

Syracuse handed Clemson its second-largest margin of defeat this season despite the Tigers getting a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double from PJ Hall, 18 points from David Collins and 11 points off the bench from Chase Hunter. The primary issue for Clemson during its skid has been getting stops.

Clemson has allowed at least 70 points in every game of its losing streak while Notre Dame, Boston College and Syracuse each shot better than 45% from the field. The Orange made those numbers look pedestrian. Syracuse, which got 48 combined points from guards Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard III, sank 53.4% of its shots en route to its highest point total against an ACC foe this season.

Brownell said the primary issue is a lack of size and physicality from his team on the defensive end of the floor, allowing opposing players to frequently get their shots off from wherever they’re trying to get on the floor. It’s a deficiency that Brownell said may have to be addressed, at least in part, off the court.

“We’re physically a little weak,” Brownell said. “We’re physically smaller and weaker, and some of that is a product of recruiting. We’ve got to think about that. Now obviously what you get on the other hand is you get some skill. You get guys that can shoot. You get guys that can pass. And that’s why offensively we’ve got a bunch of guys that shoot a high percentage from 3.

“We scored 78 (Tuesday), but we miss Aamir Simms’ defense drastically. Just his physicality, smarts, toughness. And some other guys, too. We just had bigger, stronger dudes in some spots. And then we’re not going getting some other guys that played well last year, we’re not playing as well defensively right now. I’ve got to coach that better.”

Brownell has recently made a change with the personnel on this year’s team. Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes started together for the first half of the season in Clemson’s backcourt, but junior guard Alex Hemenway, at 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds, replaced the 5-10 Honor in the starting lineup two games ago in an effort to get more size on the perimeter.

“Guys shoot over top of us some,” Brownell said. “That’s not lack of effort. That’s just a lack of some strength and size.”

But Hemenway hasn’t done much in that starting role, combining for just six points on 2 of 9 shooting in the last two games. Foul trouble limited him to just 13 minutes against Syracuse while Honor had eight points, five assists and just one turnover in 26 minutes off the bench.

Brownell didn’t rule out the possibility of more personnel changes when Clemson hosts Pittsburgh on Saturday.

“(Hemenway) is trying hard, but the results aren’t there,” Brownell said. “Whether we stick with it or not, I don’t know. We could move Chase into the starting lineup. Chase has played better, but sometimes it’s nice to have Chase off the bench because he could play the 2 (shooting guard) or play the 3 (wing).”

Brownell said he’s not worried about losing his team during this rough patch, adding the Tigers had “two really good practices” in preparation for Tuesday’s game. But Clemson could use the pick-me-up of that translating over to the game.

And soon.

“Our team is wounded. We’re disappointed,” Brownell said. “Obviously the Boston College loss hurt. We wanted to play well (Tuesday) and get a win, and we didn’t get a win. It’s hard.”

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Clemson ends skid with overtime win over Drake

ATLANTA – Clemson’s men’s basketball team found itself in an all-too-familiar position Saturday afternoon. They needed a little longer than they would’ve liked, but this one eventually turned out better than the other ones for the Tigers. After …

ATLANTA – Clemson’s men’s basketball team found itself in an all-too-familiar position Saturday afternoon.

They needed a little longer than they would’ve liked, but this one eventually turned out better than the other ones for the Tigers.

After watching one sizable lead after another slip away during their recent skid, Clemson used four double-digit scorers to hold off Drake in overtime for its best win of the non-conference schedule so far. Clemson’s 90-80 victory at the Holiday Hoopsgiving event inside State Farm Arena was just its second since Nov. 18 and ended a two-game skid.

Clemson (6-4) led by as many as 11 in the final 20 minutes Saturday but went the final 6 minutes, 34 seconds of regulation without a basket. Drake (6-4) eventually caught up to force overtime, but the Tigers scored the first five points in the extra frame and later got back-to-back 3-pointers from Al-Amir Dawes and Nick Honor for a three-possession lead that all but iced the win, one that was too close for comfort but one the Tigers will take considering how things have gone lately.

PJ Hall paced Clemson with 22 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Dawes finished with 19 points while David Collins, Alex Hemenway and Honor added 19, 12 and 12, respectively.

Clemson came in losers of four of its last five games, letting some pretty significant cushions slip away in all of them. Three of those losses came after the Tigers held double-digit leads in the second half.

It happened again Saturday with Clemson taking multiple double-digit cushions late against Drake, the last coming after Hall’s old-fashioned three-point play at the end of the putback put the Tigers up 69-58 with 6:35 left.

But the Bulldogs kept coming.

Clemson went without a basket for the rest of regulation, and Drake used a 13-3 run to get within one with less than a minute left. Honor drew a foul on Drake’s Garrett Sturtz as the shot clock wound down on the Tigers’ next possession and sank both free throws to make it a three-point game before Tremell Murphy buried a tying 3 from the top of the key to tie it with 13 seconds left.

Clemson took a timeout with 8.9 seconds left to draw up one final play for Hall, who got the entry pass from Honor just feet from the basket. But his turnaround jumper fell short, sending the game to overtime.

Dawes had 13 points in the first half, including a 3 to cap a 7-0 run for Clemson going to the locker room. The Tigers also got a lift off the bench from Hemenway to take a 39-32 lead at the break.

Hemenway sank a trio of 3s in the opening 20 minutes to help spark the Tigers after a slow start. Clemson missed on six of its first eight shots before Hall, Hemenway and Dawes scored on three straight trips to give the Tigers their first lead. Hemenway knocked down another trey two possessions later, and by the time he did so again with 7:39 left in the first half, he already had a season-high in points, surpassing the six he scored against Charleston Southern and Temple.

Clemson took its biggest lead of the half at 32-24 on Collins’ layup with 5:20 remaining, but Drake stayed close by knocking down six 3s of its own in the opening 20 minutes. D.J. Wilkins and Murphy sank back-to-back 3-balls to start an 8-0 run that drew the Bulldogs even before Clemson answered with its own spurt in the final 1:47 to take momentum back at the half.

This story will be updated.

Clemson dominates Temple in first round of Charleston Classic

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Clemson cruised to an easy 75-48 victory in the first round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Thursday afternoon. Embattled by mental mistakes early on, Clemson grouped and settled down. Temple overwhelmed them with …

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Clemson cruised to an easy 75-48 victory in the first round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Thursday afternoon.

Embattled by mental mistakes early on, Clemson grouped and settled down. Temple overwhelmed them with some high-intensity play early on, but the Tigers never flinched.

After limiting some of its self-inflicted wounds and behind the fearless shooting of Nick Honor, Clemson was able to take control of the game’s first half. After holding Temple scoreless in the first frame’s last six minutes of play, the Tigers headed into the break with a comfortable 12-point lead.

In the first half alone, Nick Honor had 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. He finished the game with

Temple lived and died by 3-pointer in the first half and while that’s what kept the Owls in the game, it’s also why the team went on a significant scoring drought. After Temple redshirt sophomore guard Tai Strickland made shots from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions, the Owls went dry.

Strickland gave Temple a 24-23 advantage, it was the last lead they held Thursday.

Clemson pounced on the opportunity. Over the last 7 minutes and 24 seconds of play, Clemson went on a 15-2 run, capped off by a massive 3-pointer by senior forward Hunter Tyson.

Clemson likely should’ve held a much larger lead and while the team only had six turnovers, if you ask head coach Brad Brownell, it was six too many. Al Amir-Dawes had three turnovers, while David Collins had two. Brownell could be audibly heard yelling at Dawes “stop turning over the ball.”

And, he did.

The careless mistakes stopped for Clemson and the Tigers started to knock down shots. Those errors began to plague Temple, instead, in the second half of play. The Owls couldn’t get out of their way in the second frame, paving the way for Clemson to go on a 12-4 run to open up the half.

Temple turned it over a total of 13 times on Thursday. After a sloppy first half, Clemson turned over the ball just twice. Those adjustments proved to be the difference.

Although Dawes struggled, he drained a corner 3, which proved to be the dagger in Thursday’s victory with Clemson taking a comfortable 50-30 lead. Then, Temple coach Aaron McKie called a timeout with 16:10 remaining. The damage was already done though, and the lead? Insurmountable.

Of course, Temple was able to take away P.J. Hall, who had a season-low 13 points, but it didn’t matter. The Tigers found their rhythm from inside and out. They made 11-of-21 shots (52.4%) from beyond the arc and went 30-of-55 from the field.

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Clemson cleans it up, takes momentum into Charleston Classic

Clemson’s men’s basketball team got elementary with the short window it had to prepare for its game Monday night. It might sound strange given the opponent was a Bryant team in the 200s in the KenPom rankings coming off a blowout loss at Rhode …

Clemson’s men’s basketball team got elementary with the short window it had to prepare for its game Monday night.

It might sound strange given the opponent was a Bryant team in the 200s in the KenPom rankings coming off a blowout loss at Rhode Island, but coughing up possessions left and right the way the Tigers had through their first two games will do that.

“We did basic partner passing. We did pivoting. Jump stopping,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We worked against trapping. We worked hardened backs against pressure. Back tipping. You name it, we worked on it for two days.”

Clemson beat Presbyterian and Wofford to start the season, but the Tigers, who had to rally from second-half deficits in each, didn’t make it easy on themselves in part because of turnovers. The Tigers’ new-look group has seven newcomers and two new starters joining Hunter Tyson, Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes in the first five, so things aren’t always going to operate smoothly with that kind of transition.

It showed in the first two games.

The Tigers (3-0) turned it over 14 times in the opener against Presbyterian in a 64-53 victory, one that saw Clemson rally from 10 down in the second half. Clemson got even more sloppy against Wofford on Friday, committing 19 turnovers that kept the Tigers from pulling away in a 76-68 win.

“Coach is big on turnovers,” Honor said. “It really drives him crazy from the summer time into the whole season. So we just looked it over and started to dumb things down a little bit in practice, getting back to the basic fundamentals.”

Clemson responded with its best offensive showing of the season against Bryant, which did plenty to try to disrupt the Tigers’ rhythm even more. The Bulldogs mixed up their defensive looks throughout the night, throwing a 2-3 zone, man, traps and full-court pressure at Clemson. But the Tigers largely handled it all en route to one of their most efficient performances in a while.

Clemson turned it over just seven times, helping the Tigers maximize their chances on the offensive end. Clemson got up 62 shots and finished with season-highs in points (93), field-goal percentage (56.5) and 3-pointers (10) in a 23-point victory. The Tigers’ 52 points in the opening 20 minutes were just two shy of matching the most Clemson has ever scored in a first half in Brownell’s 12 seasons as head coach (54 against Alabama A&M in 2019).

Leading the way was Honor, who dished out a career-high seven assists.

“And only one turnover with all the pressure and things he was dealing with,” Brownell said.

Clemson’s backcourt, which includes Dawes and South Florida transfer David Collins, was responsible for 17 of those turnovers through the first two games. On Monday, the guards combined for just three, and nobody turned it over more than once.

“I think we’ll be fine. Just a few little mental errors,” Honor said. “But we’re still getting to know each other well playing-wise.”

The Tigers’ best showing of the young season came at a good time considering what’s looming. Clemson will hit the road later this week for what will be a significant step up in competition. The Tigers will face Temple (1-1) on Thursday in the opening round of the Charleston Classic.

Depending on the outcomes of their first games, Clemson, which will play three games in the tournament, could meet No. 22 St. Bonaventure on Friday. The tournament field also includes fellow Power Six programs West Virginia, Ole Miss and Marquette as well as Boise State and Elon.

But the Tigers are taking a wave of momentum into the weekend after cleaning it up their act.

“That was our emphasis,” Brownell said. “Obviously it paid off. The was really a good performance by our team.”

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Clemson shoots past Bryant in rout

Clemson’s men’s basketball team didn’t have much trouble staying perfect Monday. The Tigers carved up Bryant’s zone defense and eventually tightened things up on the defensive end to beat the Bulldogs, 93-70, at Littlejohn Coliseum. Hunter Tyson led …

Clemson’s men’s basketball team didn’t have much trouble staying perfect Monday.

The Tigers carved up Bryant’s zone defense and eventually tightened things up on the defensive end to beat the Bulldogs, 93-70, at Littlejohn Coliseum. Hunter Tyson led five double-figure scorers for Clemson (3-0) with 20 points while Nick Honor added 16 points and seven assists for the Tigers, who, for the first time this season, didn’t have to overcome a second-half deficit.

PJ Hall added 14 points in 24 minutes while added Al-Amir Dawes and David Collins chipped in 11 and 10, respectively, for Clemson, which added to a 12-point halftime lead by shooting a season-high 56% from the field. The Tigers went inside and out against the Bulldogs’ 2-3 zone, scoring 40 points in the paint and knocking down a season-high 10 3-pointers. Hall, fresh off a 21-point outing against Wofford on Friday, finished 7 of 13 from the field while Tyson, Honor and Dawes had the hot hands from distance, combining to shoot 8 of 13 from beyond the arc.

Peter Kiss led Bryant (1-2) with 24 points while Chris Childs chipped in 15, but Clemson led by as many as 26 thanks to its defense eventually catching up to the offense. The Tigers held Bryant to just two 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes, a stark contrast to a first half that saw the Bulldogs make more than 53% of their shots.

Clemson finished with 20 assists on 35 made baskets. Collins also had nine rebounds for the Tigers, who finished plus-12 (39-27) on the boards.

Clemson came out humming against Bryant’s defense, getting almost any look it wanted with crisp ball movement. The Tigers made a point to work it inside to Hall, who had 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting to go along with five rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

Tyson complemented that with 11 points as the Tigers shot better than 63% from the floor in the first half. But Bryant got hot from deep to stay close early.

The Bulldogs, behind Kiss’ 17 first-half points, made seven of eight shots at one point with four of those baskets coming from 3-point range. Bryant sank seven 3s in the opening 20 minutes and ripped off a quick 16-7 run to take a 30-28 lead on Kiss’ layup with 6 minutes, 53 seconds left in the half.

But Tyson answered with a corner 3 on Clemson’s next possession, which ignited another surge for the Tigers. Clemson sank a trio of 3s in the final 2:29, including Dawes’ buzzer-beater, and ended the half on a 24-10 run for a 52-40 advantage at the break.

The Tigers held Bryant to one bucket over the first 6 minutes and change coming out of the locker room, and back-to-back 3s from Honor capped a 17-8 spurt that gave Clemson a 21-point lead with 13:15 left. The Tigers cruised from there.

Clemson will now take its show on the road for the first time this season. The Tigers will face Temple on Thursday in the first round of the Charleston Classic.

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Clemson sidesteps unforced errors to rally past Wofford

Picking up where it left off, Clemson staved off Wofford for a 76-68 win Friday night at the Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson fought its way back into a game it so needed to have, avoiding a potential letdown in the process, to win its second straight …

Picking up where it left off, Clemson staved off Wofford for a 76-68 win Friday night at the Littlejohn Coliseum.

Clemson fought its way back into a game it so needed to have, avoiding a potential letdown in the process, to win its second straight game of the season.

Al-Amir Dawes put the game on ice with a clutch corner 3-pointer to give Clemson a 6-point cushion.

The game got chippy at times, but Clemson somehow managed to keep its composure. Clemson led by as many as 14 during the game’s opening frame, but the Tigers allowed Wofford to hang around in a game they had mostly dominated in every facet

In fact, Wofford took control of the game with just under 12 minutes to play. Keaton Turner executed a 3-point play to give the Terriers a 52-49 lead. Clemson didn’t panic, though. Coach Brad Brownell called a timeout and Nick Honor immediately answered with a clutch shot from beyond the arc. He celebrated empathetically and then, Clemson’s fortunes began to change.

With Hall absent, unforced turnovers and untimely scoring droughts gave way to Wofford making its run.

Hall’s effort in the first half was undeniable. Heading into the break, he had 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, he also had five defensive rebounds.

It’s why his absence was so pivotal to Clemson losing control of Friday night’s game. The offense looked stagnant without him in there, even if he scored just five second-half points. His presence alone is pivotal for a Clemson team that struggled to find answers from its second unit.

His getting into foul trouble certainly underscored what Clemson was able to accomplish on both ends of the court. The junior forward picked up his fourth foul with just 5 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the game.

While he spent much of the game’s final minutes on the bench, he checked back in during crunch time to help seal the win for Clemson.

He finished the game with 22 points and eight boards.

While the Tigers looked a bit sloppy and missed some open shots to start off the opening frame of play, Clemson was still able to jump out to a fast start, aided by a strong first-half defensive performance and the team’s offense running through the likes of Hall and David Collins.

That, of course, persisted in the second half, but Wofford was finally able to get shots to start falling. Clemson headed into the break with a 39-31 lead after dominating the first half. Though, it wouldn’t last long.

Clemson’s defensive effort in the first and down the stretch of Friday’s game can’t be overstated. It’s what allowed the Tigers to command a lead for much of the night, even with multiple scoring droughts throughout the course of the contest. Of course, Wofford was able to claw back and make Friday’s game interesting, especially for the majority of the second half, but that had more to do with Clemson’s self-inflicted wounds.

The Tigers were plagued with some untimely fouls — they had 8 first-half team fouls — and nine turnovers. Wofford was able to score 11 points off those turnovers, which allowed the Terriers to hang around, for the most part.

Clemson turned the ball over 10 more times in the second half, for a total of 19 on the night.

Clemson crashed the boards with relative ease in the game’s first 20 minutes. The Tigers outrebounded Wofford 18-10 in the first half and finished the night with a 36-31 margin.

Speaking of defense, Clemson got a big boost from the defensive paralysis of junior guard Nick Honor. He had five steals on the night. Honor does a great job of getting his hands in passing lanes. He’s a tenacious defender, who can defend the length of the floor.

As for Collins, he looked exactly like the player Clemson thought it was getting, at least in the first half. The USF grad transfer not only showed off how physical he can be in the paint on both ends of the court but also just how good of a facilitator he can be.

Collins’ physicality and court vision will be crucial to Clemson’s success throughout the season. It certainly proved to be pivotal as that aspect of Clemson’s game on both ends of the floor disappeared in the second half.

Even with Collins and Hall not adding much offensively in the game’s second frame, the Tigers relied on Dawes, Hunter Tyson and Nick Honor to carry them home to a victory on Friday.

The trio combined for 36 of Clemson’s 76 points.

Brownell yanked Dawes from the court just less than two minutes into Friday night’s contest. While he was the hero for the Tigers in Game 1, it didn’t take long for Clemson’s coach to pull the team’s starting guard.

Dawes sat for a bit, while he watched senior guard Chase Hunter run with the 1s. After checking back in, Dawes immediately drilled a step-back 3-pointer from beyond the arc to give Clemson a 14-6 lead.

While he wasn’t as effective offensively as he was in Clemson’s season-opening victory, Dawes drilled an important 3-pointer to give Clemson a 4-point lead and some breathing room with just over 5 minutes to play.

It was almost poetic. It was a minor rundown of how the game went. Clemson fought through unforced errors and adversity to come out on top, much like Dawes.

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