3 Critical Observations From Clemson's Win Over California

Clemson basketball continued its winning ways on Saturday night, defeating Cal for its fourth-straight win of the season.

Head coach Brad Brownell’s team displayed dominant defense in the away victory, one that helped the Tigers move to a tie in first place in the ACC standings with the Duke Blue Devils. The two will meet next Saturday for a battle for the sole position.

Below are some takeaways that help sharpen our image of the team going forward.

No Dillon Hunter, No Problem

Clemson earned a Quad 1 win on the road with only 15 minutes by starting guard Dillon Hunter. 10 of those minutes were in the second half when the game was already out of hand.

Hunter picked up two quick fouls in the first minutes of the game, hitting the bench and seeing extensive time out of Jestin Porter and Ace Buckner. That guard duo delivered without their senior leader, once again showing Clemson’s trademarked depth this season.

Hunter needs to stay out of foul trouble going forward, but the volume that the Tigers are receiving from their supporting guards brings plenty of success to the team. Butta Johnson, who had eight points, is another guard who saw an elevated role in the win.

Brownell has guards that can do plenty of different things, and that’s helpful for the rest of the games and the upcoming postseason.

When Clemson Shoots Lights Out, Wins Follow

The Tigers have won plenty of games through their defense, but scoring at an elite rate has almost ensured a win over the last several seasons.

Clemson is now 42-2 when shooting 40% from three over the last four seasons. The team is at a typical 34.7% conversion rate from deep, but the Tigers made 12 of their 26 for a 46.2% clip. Five players had multiple threes in the win.

Some of those scores happened on the 23-1 run that Clemson went on over 10 minutes in the first half, putting the game at a lopsided score. There are always players who have good shooting nights for Brownell, but having so much parity shows what his team could do at full potential.

Forward Jake Wahlin had a team-high three three-pointers on Saturday night, showing off his ability as a shooter going forward. With top competition occurring over the next week, Clemson having his hot hand would be beneficial.

Clemson’s Bench Continues to Get Better

Buckner and Nick Davidson have been the two standouts off of the bench over the stretch of ACC play, but more pieces are continuing to contribute, which helped in the win.

Forward Dallas Thomas was the other standout on Saturday night, scoring eight points in five minutes to be a spark plug for the Tigers in the win. That’s his career-high in his first season of playtime for Clemson.

Brownell saw Chase Thompson bring a career-high 10 points in the win over Stanford as well, meaning that the younger players continue to get better with each game. That’s how Buckner has impacted the game, scoring a team-high 13 points to aid Clemson’s bench points.

To put it in perspective, the Golden Bears only had five bench points, a significant difference in how the game went. Clemson’s 33.1 bench points per game is the best in the ACC, and why it is in first place after the win.