Live Blog: North Carolina at Clemson

North Carolina travels to Clemson for a matchup of top-30 defensive teams.

Author:
Isaac Schade
Feb 2, 2021 6:03 PM EST

North Carolina travels to Clemson on Tuesday night for the second of three straight ACC road games. The Tar Heels are winners of six of their past seven, while the Tigers have lost four of their last five.

In their first 10 games of the season, Clemson moved to number one in the country in defensive efficiency, having not surrendered more than 70 points. However, in the current streak of losing four out of five, the Tigers have surrendered 79 or more points in each of the losses.

Despite the recent speed bumps for Clemson, they remain 20th in defensive efficiency (according to KenPom.com) while Carolina is currently 29th, making this a top-30 defensive matchup.

UNC comes in with an overall record of 11-5, 6-3 in the ACC, and tied with Louisville for fifth in the conference standings. Clemson has a similar overall record at 10-5, but is just 4-5 in conference play, good for 10th place in the standings.

The Tar Heels will likely deploy their usual starting five of Caleb Love, Kerwin Walton, Leaky Black, Garrison Brooks, and Armando Bacot.

For much of the season, Clemson has utilized Aamir Simms, Jonathan Baehre, Al-Amir Dawes, John Newman III, and Clyde Trapp as their starting lineup. However, in each of the past two games, Hunter Tyson has replaced Baehre in the starting lineup. Alex Hemenway has also started several games this season.

Aamir Simms is the statistical leader for the Tigers, paving the way in points (12.5), rebounds (5.9), and assists (2.5). Simms, however, is 6'8" and will have his hands full with the Tar Heels' dominant front line of Garrison Brooks (6'10"), Armando Bacot (6'10"), and Day'Ron Sharpe (6'11").

To that point, North Carolina comes in as the number one team in the nation in rebounds per game at 43.12. Clemson, on the other hand? 278th with 33.2 rebounds per game.

Will Carolina be able to pick up their seventh win in the past eight games? Tune in tonight at 7:00pm ET on ACC Network to find out.

GAME THREAD

Carolina starters:

Caleb Love
Kerwin Walton
Leaky Black
Garrison Brooks
Armando Bacot

Clemson starters:

Aamir Sims
Alex Hemenway
Clyde Trapp
Hunter Tyson
Nick Honor

Referees: Doug Shows, Keith Kimble, and Brent Hampton
Clemson's John Newman III is missing for an undisclosed reason.

1st Half

Clemson's first four points are straight drives to the hole.
1st Half under-16:00 media timeout at 15:26. Clemson 7, UNC 2. Heels ball after the break.
Leaky Black picks up two quick fouls and has to check out.
Clemson on an 11-0 run before Brooks gets a bucket to stop the run.
Just 6 points for Carolina in the first 8:30.
Clemson is up 22-9, already connecting on 4 threes.
Free throw woes continue as Carolina misses 3 of their first 4.
Back-to-back threes from Love and Walton cut the Clemson lead back to 9.
1st Half under-8:00 media timeout at 6:06. Clemson 24, UNC 15. Clemson ball after the break.
Walker Kessler *nearly* gets a steal right after checking into the game.
Heels up to 7 turnovers in the first half. Still 4:30 to go before halftime.
1st Half under-4:00 media timeout at 3:02. Clemson 27, UNC 16. Clemson ball after the break. 9 turnovers and still ZERO offensive rebounds for the Heels.
Clemson is doubling up Carolina 32-16 with 2:00 left in the first half.
Carolina FINALLY gets an offensive rebound, from Day'Ron Sharpe and the lead is down to 12 with Clemson holding for the last shot of the half.
RJ Davis plays solid defense to end the half. Clemson leads at halftime 33-21.
Carolina's scoring leader Armando Bacot finishes with 0 first half points and has not even attempted a shot.

2nd Half

Carolina starts the half with a three from Kerwin Walton
Can Armando Bacot get going?
Bacot finally gets a shot attempt with 18:40 to go in the second half. He misses though.
Tar Heels just can't seem to catch a break tonight. Lots of close calls going against them. Unable to come up with 50/50 balls.
Back-to-back buckets for Day'Ron Sharpe and the lead is down to 7.
2nd Half under-16:00 timeout at 14:45. Clemson lead 38-31. Carolina ball after the break.
BLOB dunk for Brooks after the timeout cuts the Clemson lead to 5.
A Kerwin Walton three (his third) cuts the lead to 4 - 40-36. Clemson takes a timeout.
Platek draws a charge and the Heels will look to once again cut the lead to 4, which Garrison Brooks does with a turnaround jumper.
2nd Half under-12:00 timeout at 11:52. Clemson leads 42-38. Clemson ball after the break.
Will the Heels be able to get it down to a one possession game?
Heels have three shots on one trip to get the lead down to two, but Davis, Brooks, and Sharpe all miss.
ANOTHER chance to cut the lead to 2, but Sharpe misses both free throws.
Carolina had 5 straight possessions with a chance to cut the lead to one possession and couldn't score. Clemson eventually hit a three to push the lead back to 7.
2nd Half under-8:00 timeout at 7:05. Clemson leads 47-40. Garrison Brooks 1-and-1 after the break.
Brooks misses the front end of the 1-and-1.
Bacot picks up fourth foul with 5:50 to go.
Sharpe really struggling from the line tonight. Shooting 1-6.
And just like that Clemson's lead is back to 9 with 4:30 left.
Carolina timeout with 0:26 to go. Clemson leads 59-48.
This will be the first time in series history that Clemson has won 3 of 4 and just the fourth that they've won back-to-back.
Season low 50 points for UNC. Previous low was 66.