Clemson Takes Down Wolfpack to Advance in ACC Tournament
CLEMSON, S.C. — PJ Hall scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in leading 10th-seeded Clemson to a 70-64 victory over No. 15 seed NC State Tuesday in the first round of the ACC Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
"Good win for our team," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. "Proud of how we defended. I thought we guarded exceptionally well, today. They (NC State) are hard on those ball screens. They do a great job getting down hill. I thought PJ and our post players did a good job leveling some things off.
"It was kinda of a game that was bump-and-grind for much of the start, but our guys just kinda of hung in there. I thought we got better flow the longer it went. PJ really helped us get off to a good start offensively."
The win over the Wolfpack was the Tigers' fifth straight win. They now advance to the second round of the tournament, where they will play No. 5 seed Virginia Tech Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The Tigers beat the Hokies at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson this past Saturday.
Clemson (17-15) also got 13 points from guard Nick Honor and 12 points off the bench from guard Al-Amir Dawes.
NC State (11-21) got a game-high 19 points from Dereon Seaborn, while grabbing 10 boards and dishing out six assists. The Tigers held the Wolfpack’s leading scorer, Terquavion Smith, to seven points. He was just 2-for-13 from the floor and 0-for-9 from 3-point range.
The Tigers led for the majority of the game, nearly 36 minutes. Dawes hit a 3-pointer with 11:36 to play in the first half to give Clemson a 14-12 lead. The Tigers never lost the lead again.
Clemson led by as many as 11 points at four different points in the second half.
"We kind of played with a lead for most of the second half. They made a nice little run and then give our guys credit, we were able to answer," Brownell said. "Nick was terrific. Two big threes back-to-back. Chase [Hunter] hit a big three and Al hit a big three. Made enough free throws down the stretch to get a big win.
"Happy for our team. We really hung in there this year. I could not be more proud of these guys."
Key Play: NC State pulled within three points, 39-36, on a Breon Pass layup with 12:18 to play. But PJ Hall made a jump shot to put the Tigers up five points on the ensuing possession and then Clemson guard Nick Honor drained back-to-back 3-pointers to quickly give Clemson a 47-36 lead with 11:05 to play.
"A huge momentum swing for us," Brownell said. "They made a run and had taken momentum from us and (Hall and Honor) made huge plays. This is a game where players got to make plays. Nick, both of his shots, were a guy making big-time shots.
"We did not call anything, it was just him recognizing the situation, staying in attack mode, being confident and hitting big shots. PJ, I thought, played very well and settled us into the game. Then as the game went on, he had a couple of big buckets, big rebounds and did a nice job protecting our basket."
The Wolfpack did not draw any closer than five points the rest of the afternoon.
"That was a huge point in the game when it looked like momentum had shifted and quickly those baskets, Nick's back-to-back threes gave us the lead and the cushion that we probably needed down the stretch," Brownell said.
Player of the Game: PJ Hall scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Tigers, while also grabbing 10 rebounds. He was 7 of 12 from the field and 4-for-6 from the foul line. He also had three assists and four blocked shots.
It was Hall's fourth double-double of the season.
Stat of the game: NC State was 4-for-23 (17 percent) from 3-point range. Clemson was just 6 of 23 (26percent) from behind the arc.
Injuries: No injuries
Odds: While the Tigers are certain to miss the NCAA Tournament, barring winning the ACC Championship, the odds-on favorites to win the tournament is Gonzaga at +400 according to Fanduel.
Up Next: Clemson advances to the second round of the ACC Tournament, where it will play Virginia Tech, the No. 5 seed, Wednesday at 7 p.m.
