Why Clemson's Successful West Coast Trip Raises Stakes For Future ACC Matchups

BERKELEY, Calif. — On Saturday night, the stars aligned for the Clemson Tigers.

Behind a big night from redshirt Ace Buckner, No. 20 Clemson beat the California Golden Bears 77-55 on the second leg of a West Coast road trip.

But before the buzzer rang on Clemson’s 20th win of the season, something else fell into place more than 2,500 miles away in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. With 0.4 seconds on the clock, UNC’s Seth Trimble knocked down a three pointer to hand Duke their first ACC loss of the season.

With the Blue Devils’ loss and Clemson’s win, the Tigers now share first place in the ACC with No. 4 Duke.

But Clemson’s 22-point victory over Cal drew the Tigers level with Duke in another way.

Saturday's triumph marked a 14th consecutive road victory for Clemson. The streak is tied with Duke for the second longest in ACC history.

Unsurprisingly, Duke holds the longest road win streak, too, when they won 24 consecutive away games between 1998 and 2001.

The ACC is one of the strongest conferences in college basketball this season — and the Tigers are chasing the crown.

The Duke-Clemson deadlock will be broken this week. On Valentine’s Day, the two will meet in Durham in a clash of the Titans.

“We know there's a long way to go in league play. And it's just kind of what do we got to do next?” head coach Brad Brownell said.

On Wednesday, Clemson will play Virginia Tech back in the comfortable confines of Littlejohn Coliseum, having officially survived their trek to the West Coast. The two-game trip was a point of emphasis — and Clemson conquered it.

“The win at Stanford was big for us. You know, we grinded it out. Just, you know, you go on a long trip like this and if you really like your team, you like your the guys you're hanging out with, you win your first game, there's just you're enjoying the heck out of it,” Brownell said.

Ace Buckner surely seemed to enjoy the heck out of it.

Against Cal, the redshirt freshman posted 13 points — a joint team-high with RJ Godfrey— along with three rebounds and a team-high four assists off the bench. Against Stanford, he left his mark with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Across both games, no Clemson player scored more points than Buckner.

Now, as fate inches ever closer, Clemson has the chance to show everyone what they are made of.