Strong Finish Propels Clemson over Miami for Third Straight Win

Over the past three games, Clemson has found themselves tied at 70-70 with 3:16 left (at UNC), 60-60 with 3:37 left (at Syracuse), and 57-57 with 5:52 left (vs. Miami). Remarkably, Clemson won those three contests by a combined 30 points!

Before that, failures to close-out games against Georgia Tech, Duke, and Virginia over a 2-3 five-stretch threatened to send their season into a downward spiral. Instead, the Tigers responded with a three-game win streak has them all but locked into an NCAA tournament bid and in the thick of the ACC standings battle for a #4 seed in the conference tournament which would grant them a much desired double-bye.

Back on January 3rd, Clemson lost at Miami 95-82, as the Hurricanes’ 11-24 (45.8%) 3-point shooting was simply impossible to keep pace with. This time, Miami shot a still very solid 37.5% from 3, but Clemson was able to hold them to 10-27 (37.0%) from 2 and limit their overall scoring to just 60 points.

It was a strange game as both teams leaned on perimeter shooting early. Clemson’s usually excellent post-players, PJ Hall and Ian Schieffelin attempted just one 2-point shot in the first half. Despite that unfavorable shot distribution Clemson led most of the first half as guards Joe Girard and Chase Hunter played well and made two 3-pointers each.

A Jack Clark 3-pointer with 6:33 left in the first half put Clemson up 7 points and they seemed poised to start building a strong lead. They’d only make one more field goal before half time and entered the break with a slim 31-30 lead. With Hall and Schieffelin combining for just 3 points in the half, it seemed obvious the Tigers needed to get back to their strengths and play through the post more in the second half. As the second half opened, they tried just that, but neither Hall nor Schieffelin seemed to have their touch tonight.

It was a back-and-forth contest throughout most of the second half and with the game tied with about six minutes remaining, Coach Brownell made the gutsy call to remove both Hall and Schieffelin for a breather. The Tigers began a run that would turn into an insane 24-3 finish by the end of the night.

PJ Hall and Ian Schieffelin got back into the game about two minutes later and helped close out the victory with a beautiful Schieffelin-to-PJ post pass that led to an emphatic dunk to put the Tigers up 9. With 2:04 remaining, Jack Clark iced the game with a turnaround fadeaway to put Clemson up 11. Hall and Chase Hunter added late 3-pointers to make it a resounding 77-60 Tiger victory.

PJ Hall finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds, but was held to just 8 points until the final few minutes. He was relatively quiet and was said to be ill and playing through it. Schieffelin was dominant on the glass as usual, with 11 rebounds, but was only 2-5 from the field for 5 points.

Chase Hunter and Joe Girard led the way with 20 and 18 points respectively. Chase Hunter was the more efficient of the duo as he shot a superb 6-14 making five 3-pointers. He has struggled immensely from deep this season after being a good if not elite 3-point shooter a year ago. His big night pushes still only pushes him to 30.8% from deep, but if he can shoot closer to the 35.6% he shot last season, this team could be deadly in the NCAA tournament. Hopefully, he’s regained his touch. Girard relied on volume tonight going 5-14 and 3-11 from 3, but also added 5 FTs and 5 assists and played a strong game overall.

Jack Clark was the surprise offensive contributor for the Tigers. He has struggled offensively as he is playing through the lingering effects of a hernia. This was the first time he looked like the guy Clemson got via transfer from NC State. Not only was his defense and rebounding good as usual, but he was much more involved offensively. He made several good post-entry passes and finished with 3 assists to go with his 8 points. Hopefully, this marks him getting comfortable and beginning to contribute more consistently on offense.

The Tigers are all but an NCAA tournament lock now. KenPom gives the Tigers no worse than a 72% chance to win each of their next six games and while it’s likely they’ll drop at least one of those before a tough road trip to Winston-Salem (at Wake Forest), they’re playing for seeding now. Kudos to the Tigers for rebounding from a bad stretch and setting themselves up for a potentially very memorable March.