Clemson Tigers Hit the Road for Huge Win Over SMU Mustangs

Jaeden Zackery paved the way for the Clemson Tigers as he led all scorers with 19 points.

Feb 22, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; SMU Mustangs guard AJ George (10) moves the ball past Clemson Tigers guard Jaeden Zackery (11) during the second half at Moody Coliseum. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Jaeden Zackery poured in 19 points as the Clemson Tigers defeated the Southern Methodist University Mustangs 79-69 in Dallas, Texas on Saturday afternoon.

The win was the fourth in a row for the Tigers.

Chase Hunter added 17 points to help lead Clemson to the victory. The Tigers improved to 22-5 overall and 14-2 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Clemson put the game away for good, late in the second half, as they connected on four of their final five field goals to ice the game.

SMU was led by Chuck Harris who scored 16 points and added four rebounds together with three assists for the Mustangs. B.J. Edwards had 12 points and nine rebounds for SMU. Mark Cross also chimed in with 12 points.

The Tigers got the win without reserve center Christian Reeves who missed the game with an ankle injury. Reeves is not a huge part of the Tigers' rotation, but does provide quality minutes when Viktor Lakhin and forward Ian Schieffelin get in foul trouble or need a breather.

Lakhin and forward Chauncey Wiggins both got into foul trouble in the first half and coach Brad Brownell could not insert Reeves, who would typically eat up those minutes. Forwards Ian Schieffelin and Myles Foster played extended minutes in the first half to aid the Tigers in the absence of their starting big men.

JZ in the first half: 5-for-5 from three, a career-high 5️⃣ triples! pic.twitter.com/83PQrwci4f

— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) February 22, 2025

Lakhin and Wiggins came back with a vengeance as they created some separation for Clemson as they led a 9-0 run to begin the second stanza. The Tigers pulled away and never looked back. SMU shot 4-for-11 in the first ten minutes of the second half and was only 1-for-5 from 3-point range.

Clemson, on the othere hand, shot the lights out. They nailed 14 3-point field goals. This tied a season high for the Tigers who had six more triples than the Mustangs.

As hot as the Tigers were, the Mustangs were equally as cold. Clemson shot 48 percent from beyond the arc, while SMU finished the game shooting 32 percent from the land of three. Clemson shot the ball at a 49 percent clip overall.

The Tigers also played tough defense as they forced 16 turnovers.

The loss dropped the Mustangs to 20-7 on the season. They also fell to 11-5 in the ACC.

Clemson's next test is against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m. ET at Littlejohn Coliseum.