Clemson Picks Up Third Straight Win, Cruising by Loyola-Maryland 72-41

Brad Brownell's Tigers cruised by Loyola-Maryland on Tuesday, giving Clemson its third consecutive win on the young season.

Clemson picked up its third consecutive win on Tuesday night, cruising by Loyola-Maryland 72-41 in the opening game of the Emerald Coast Classic. Both teams will now head to Niceville, Florida for the remainder of the tournament. 

The Tigers wasted no time asserting their dominance, starting the game on an 11-6 run and never looking back. However, an 18-0 run over the final 6:27 of the first half saw Clemson break it wide open, as Brad Brownell's team took a commanding 43-14 lead into the break.

It was a stifling defensive effort, as Clemson held the Greyhounds to 6-of-24 on three-point attempts and just 29% from the field.

"Defensively, I thought we did a nice job of making it hard on their better players," Brownell said. "Forced them into tough shots, we knocked a few balls loose and just obviously played very well in the first 20 minutes."

Hunter Tyson paced the Tigers, scoring a team-high 14 points while pulling down nine rebounds. Alex Hemenway finished with 13, hitting on all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.

Chase Hunter also added 10, giving Clemson three players finishing in double-digit scoring.

Loyola-Maryland's Alonso Faure led all scorers with 15 points, hitting on 6-of-9 from the field. Deon Perry added 11 but was just 3-of-8 from 3-point land.

After scoring 4 points and pulling down 2 rebounds, Greyhounds' leading rebounder Golden Dike was ejected nine minutes into the game after a technical foul. His absence helped allow the Tigers to dominate the glass, as Clemson won the battle on the boards 41-27.

With the Tigers extending its lead to more than 30 in the second half, Brownell was able to get some of his more inexperienced players some valuable minutes. Redshirt freshman Josh Beadle and true freshmen R.J. Godfrey, Dillon Hunter and Chauncey Wiggins all saw extended time, with each logging more than 10 minutes. Wiggins and Godfrey both finished with seven points each.

"It was great," Godfrey said about the playing time. "Because I play against the starters every day (in practice). It was really, really fun."

With the win, Clemson improves to 4-1 on the season, while the loss drops Greyhounds to 2-3. Clemson's odds of winning the ACC regular season championship are currently +9500, according to Fanduel.com.

Up Next: Both teams head to Florida to continue play in the Emerald Coast Classic. Clemson is set to play Iowa on Friday night at 7 p.m. while Loyola-Maryland is set to square off with Southern University on Friday morning at 11 a.m. The games will be streamed on CBS Sports Network.

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