Clemson Loses Heartbreaker to No. 25 Iowa In Emerald Coast Classic

Clemson lost in heartbreaking fashion 74-71 to No. 25 Iowa in the Emerald Coast Classic.

Brad Brownell's Tigers lost a heartbreaker on Friday night as Clemson fell 74-71 to No. 25 in the Emerald Coast Classic.

After trailing by 14 with just under eight minutes to play, Clemson would battle back to tie it up at 64-64 with 2:54 remaining. The Hawkeyes would push that lead back to three at 67-64, and with a chance to tie it up with under 30 seconds left, Brevin Galloway's three-point shot would just rim out.

Chase Hunter's three would pull the Tigers back to within one at 72-71, but Tony Perkins sank two throws with just 1.5 seconds left, sealing the win for Iowa. Nine of Perkins' 11 points on the night came from the charity stripe.

Clemson held the red-hot Kris Murray to just 10 points and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc, but it wasn't enough, as Patrick McCaffery picked up the slack, scoring a game-high 21 points, hitting on 7-of-14 from the field.

After starting the game 1-of-7 from the field, Clemson shot 41% on the night and 31% from deep.

Despite Chase Hunter being limited to just 10 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Clemson was able to keep it close, trailing just 34-27 at the break. Redshirt freshman Joh Beadle helped keep Clemson in it, with six points off the bench in place of Hunter.

McCaffery would score five consecutive points coming out of the half, though, pushing the Iowa lead to 39-27. The Tigers would immediately respond by going on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to four at 41-37, fueled by two Hunter Tyson 3-point shots.

The Hawkeyes would quickly push the lead back out to double digits at 51-41 with 12:44 to play. Iowa would then amp up the defensive pressure, holding the Tigers without a bucket for more than three minutes, while pushing the lead to 60-46 with 7:58 remaining in the game.

Hunter led the Tigers with 21 points, hitting on 2-of-5 from behind the 3-point line. Hunter Tyson ended the night with 13, pulling down 8 rebounds in the losing effort. Beadle added 8 points off the bench.

The loss drops Clemson to 4-2 on the season and ends the Tigers' three-game winning streak, while the Hawkeyes move to 5-0.

Up Next: Iowa will move on to the championship game to face the winner of the Cal-TCU game at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Clemson will face the loser at 4 p.m. in a consolation matchup.