CLEMSON BASKETBALL

Game Seven Notes: Clemson Basketball at Duke

Game Seven Notes: Clemson Basketball at Duke


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Game 7: Clemson at Duke


Sunday, Dec. 2, 2001

8:00 PM (EST)

Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) * Durham, NC


TV: Fox Sports Net

Play By Play: Bob Neal * Color Analyst: Dan Bonner

Courtside: Dwayne Ballen * Guest: Bobby Hurley


Radio: Clemson Tiger Sports Properties

Play By Play: Jim Phillips * Color Analyst: Tim Bourret


Clemson Opens ACC Play at Duke

It is early in the season, but Clemson opens ACC play Sunday at

top-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Tigers are 5-1 for the

second straight year after beating Coastal Carolina 83-54 Friday

night in Clemson.

Last year, Clemson lost its seventh game of the season at rival South

Carolina. Clemson was last 6-1 in 1998-99 when it opened the season

with an 11-1 record. Clemson went on that year to play in the

championship game of the NIT against California.

The Duke game on Sunday marks the earliest conference start for the

Tigers since 1966-67 when Clemson opened the season on Dec. 1 at

North Carolina. The Duke game will be the fifth road game for the

Tigers who will be playing their seventh game of the season. Clemson

also opens the ACC slate playing five of its first seven conference

foes on the road. That includes the Duke game.

The Tigers have three players scoring in double figures with another

pair averaging 9.8 and 9.3 points per game. Sophomore Chris Hobbs is

leading Clemson with 12.0 points per game, followed by Ray

Henderson's 10.8 and Edward Scott's 10.5. Jamar McKnight is averaging

9.8 points per game while Tony Stockman is averaging 9.3 points per

game. Henderson is the team's top rebounder with 8.5 rebounds per

game and Scott leads the ACC in assists with 6.5 per game.

The Tigers are scoring 77.2 points per game as a team and is

outscoring their opponents 11.4 points per game. Clemson also has an

advantage on the boards and is grabbing 11.0 rebounds more than its

opponents.

After the Duke game, the Tigers return to Littlejohn Coliseum for

five straight games, including a Dec. 8 matchup with rival South

Carolina. The game will tipoff at 8:00 PM on Fox Sports Net South.

Clemson's next ACC game is not until Jan. 5 when the Tigers travel to

Georgia Tech.



About the Blue Devils

Duke is the top-ranked team in the nation according to both polls

after a 5-0 start, including a 3-0 record in Maui, where it won the

Maui Invitational by beating Seton Hall, South Carolina and Ball

State. The Blue Devils have also beaten Portland and Iowa.

Four Blue Devils are scoring in double figures with Jason Williams

leading the way. He is averaging 18.0 points per game. Mike Dunleavy

is averaging 17.8 points per game and is averaging 8.8 rebounds per

game. Carlos Boozer is the top rebounder on the team with a 9.4

rebound average to go with 16.2 points per game. He is shooting 56.4

percent from the field and 82.6 from the free throw line.

In five games, Duke has outscored its opponents by 98 points,

including 51 points in the second half. They are shooting 47.4

percent as a team while holding opponents to 40.4 percent.



Last Year vs. Duke...

Duke 115, Clemson 74

Jan. 7 ,2001 at Durham, NC

Duke's starting front line of Carlos Boozer (25), Nate James (21) and

Shane Battier (21) all scored at least 20 points in leading Duke to a

115-74 win over Clemson at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 7. It

was the 50th win in 54 tries for Duke over Clemson in Durham. The

Duke point total was the most against Clemson in 31 years.

Duke shot 54.5 percent from the field and had 27 assists on 36

baskets as the Blue Devils ran their offense to perfection. They made

just 1 of their first 8 three-point attempts, but finished by making

10 of their last 22. Duke had 14 steals, leading to 22 Clemson

turnovers.

Clemson was led in scoring by Tony Stockman, who scored 22 points off

the bench. The freshman had a season best six three-point goals in 12

attempts. Will Solomon was held to 13 points, he got just 12 shots in

the contest, making five. It broke his streak of six straight games

of at least 20 points, but it gave him 44 consecutive games of

scoring in double figures. Dustin Braddick had his first double

figure scoring game of the year with 10 points, while Edward Scott

added 10 points and four assists against just two turnovers. Clemson had 7-5 lead early, but the Blue Devils went on a 11-0 run to

take a 16-7 lead at the 15:22 mark. Duke had an 18-0 run from the

11:23 mark to the 5:48 mark to take a commanding 42-12 lead. It was

56-27 at intermission.



Duke expanded the lead to 44 points at 75-31 by the 15:47 mark of the

second half. Boozer was outstanding on the inside for the Blue

Devils. Clemson actually went on a 24-7 run to cut the advantage to

27 with 9:21 mark. But, that was as close as Clemson got as the Blue

Devils continued to hit three-point shots down the stretch.



Duke 81, Clemson 64

Feb. 7, 2001 at Clemson, SC

Duke went on a 22-9 run over the last six minutes of the game and

went on to an 81-64 victory over Clemson on Feb. 7 at Littlejohn

Coliseum. The Tigers had closed to within four points, 59-55 on a

jumper by Tony Stockman. Duke called timeout then immediately went on

a 9-0 run on four field goals by four different players. Clemson made

just 5 of its last 15 shots from the field to end the game. Clemson was led by Edward Scott, who had 15 points and a career-high

eight rebounds in his 39 minutes. Stockman added 12 points and five

assists against just one turnover in 36 minutes off the bench. Will

Solomon and Chris Hobbs added 11 points apiece for the Tigers, who

made just 1-12 three-point shots in the game. That 3-point shooting

percentage of 8.3 percent was the worst by a Clemson team under Larry

Shyatt. Clemson entered the game 16th in the nation in made

three-point goals per game.

Duke was led by Nate James, the Clemson killer, who had 27 points in

39 minutes. He made 10-14 shots from the field. He had scored 21

points against the Tigers earlier in the season. Mike Dunleavy had 17

points and 17 rebounds, the most rebounds by a Duke player this year

and the most against a Larry Shyatt-coached Clemson team.

Shane Battier added 15, but the Tigers held Jason Williams,

number-two scorer in the ACC to eight points on 3-11 shooting.

Williams also had 10 turnovers, most against the Tigers this year.

The sophomore did distribute 11 assists in his 35 minutes. Duke had

15 assists and 16 turnovers, one of just a handful of games this year

Duke has had more turnovers than assists. Clemson made just 64

percent from the foul line, ending a streak of five straight games of

at least 70 percent free throw shooting.



Clemson in ACC Openers

This is the 49th season of ACC basketball and Clemson has been in the

league since it was founded in 1953. Clemson is 15-33 in its previous

48 league openers. Clemson has lost three ACC openers in a row after

having won four in a row from 1994-95 to 1997-98. Clemson had lost

seven league openers in succession prior to that streak (1987-88 to

1993-94).

Clemson has faced Duke in its first league game eight previous

occasions and the Tigers have a 2-6 record in those games. However,

Clemson has won each of the last two ACC openers it has played

against the Blue Devils, one at Duke and one at Clemson. Clemson won

its first ACC game of the Rick Barnes era, 75-70 at Cameron in

1994-95. The Tigers won the league opener against Duke the following

season, 51-48.

This is the 22nd time Clemson has played its ACC league opener on the

road. Clemson is just 3-18 in those games, but has won two of the

last four. Clemson won at Virginia in 1996-97 in its league opener,

in addition to the win at Duke in 1994-95. The only other time

Clemson has won its ACC opener on the road was in 1984-85 at Georgia

Tech, 90-81. That was the first ACC game of the Cliff Ellis era.



Clemson Veterans vs. Duke

Ray Henderson had two double figure scoring games in his freshman

year (1999-00) and both came against DukeŠ he had 10 points on 4-5

shooting and seven rebounds in the game at Clemson and 10 on 4-9

shooting and six rebounds in the ACC TournamentŠ Henderson had a

career high 13 rebounds at Duke in just 19 minutes last yearŠ Edward

Scott had one of his best all-around games against Duke in 1999-00 as

he had 11 points on 4-5 shooting, including 3-3 on three-point shotsŠ

he had a season high 15 points and a career high rebounds against

Duke at Littlejohn Coliseum last yearŠ Tony Stockman had 22 points,

his high in an ACC game last year, at Cameron Indoor StadiumŠ he made

6-12 three-point shots in the contest.



Tigers From North Carolina

This Clemson team does not mind going to the Tar Heel state because

four of Clemson's 15 roster players are from North Carolina. The list

includes four scholarship players. Starters Dwon Clifton (Louisburg),

Ray Henderson (Charlotte) and Chris Hobbs (Chapel Hill) are from the

Tar Heel state. Walker Holt is a reserve guard from Greensboro. Clemson started an all North Carolina frontline in the win over N.C.

State last year and that could be the case again at Duke on Sunday

night. Larry Shyatt started Dwon Clifton at small forward, Chris

Hobbs at power forward and Ray Henderson at center against Penn State. This is not the largest contingent of North Carolina residents on the

Clemson roster in history. Clemson had six roster players from North

Carolina last year. Clemson will add another player from North

Carolina next year as guard Shawan Robinson or Raleigh, NC will join

the team.



Clemson Has 11 Wins Against Ranked Duke Teams

Clemson has defeated a top-20 Duke team 11 times in its history, more

than any other school. Clemson has 10 ranked wins over Maryland and

North Carolina. Clemson had defeated a top-20 North Carolina team two

of the last three years. Clemson has downed a ranked N.C. State team

nine times, Georgia Tech eight times, Wake Forest six and Virginia

five.

Clemson has upset a top-10 Duke team eight times, also more than any

other school. The last victory over a top-10 Duke team came in

1996-97 at Clemson, an 86-82 overtime win over a 10th-ranked Duke

team. That was the third year in a row that Clemson defeated a top-20

Duke team.

Larry Shyatt was Rick Barnes's top assistant for all three of those

wins, including a 75-70 win in Durham in 1995. Clemson also defeated

a top-10 Duke team three years in a row between 1988-90. Dale Davis

and Elden Campbell were common denominators on those teams. The 1990

victory clinched the ACC regular season championship for the Tigers. Clemson's first ever win over a top-20 Duke team took place in the

1962 ACC Tournament. Duke was ranked 8th in the nation entering the

game and Clemson had 10-14 record and had lost to Duke twice in the

regular season by a total of 31 points. But, Clemson won the ACC

Tournament game in Raleigh 77-72 behind 34 points by Jim Brennan.



Clemson Wins over Ranked Duke Teams


Date    	Site     	Score	Mar	AP-Coach

*3-2-1962 Raleigh, NC 77-72 +5 8-6

2-14-1967 Clemson, SC 73-68 +5 NR-14

2-21-1979 Clemson, SC 70-49 +21 6-7

1-9-1980 Clemson, SC 87-82 +5 1-1

2-29-1984 Durham, NC 77-76 +1 15-18

3-2-1988 Clemson, SC 79-77 +2 9-9

3-1-1989 Clemson, SC 79-74 +5 9-8

2-28-1990 Clemson, SC 97-93 +4 5-4

1-4-1995 Durham, NC 75-70 +5 11-9

1-3-1996 Clemson, SC 51-48 +3 19-20

1-7-1997 Clemson, SC 86-82 +4 10-9

*in ACC Tournament


Hobbs Returns to the Triangle

Clemson forward Chris Hobbs is a native of Chapel HIll, NC and a

graduate of East Chapel Hill High. He will return to his old stomping

again this year. Hobbs was one of the top players in North Carolina

as a junior averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. But, he

suffered a torn ACL as a senior and played just two games. Hobbs has had a big impact on the Clemson program the last two years.

He averaged 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds last year in addition to

shooting 56.6 percent from the field. He led the Tigers in rebounding

and field goal percentage and was named to the ACC All-Freshman team. So far this year, Hobbs has averaged 11.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per

game and has shot 54 percent from the field. He leads the team in

scoring, is second in rebounding and field goal percentage. His 17

points and 10 rebounds were important to Clemson's win over Penn

State.

Hobbs is familiar with Cameron Indoor Stadium. His father, Greg

Hobbs, is a videographer for Duke Medical Center. In his spare time,

he has served as a videographer for Coach Mike Krzyzewski's

television show. Many times as a youth Chris tagged a long to watch a

game. Greg Hobbs will be at the game this weekend, but will not be

shooting for Coach K's show.



Clemson vs. Duke Series

Duke has beaten Clemson 11 consecutive games, including seven in a

row by double digits. Duke defeated Clemson three times in 1999-00,

twice in 1998-99 and twice in 2000-01. Duke won three from Clemson in

1997-98, Rick Barnes final year, but those three losses were by a

combined seven points. Clemson nearly overcame a 24-point deficit in

the second half before falling at Duke in 1997-98, 81-80. Clemson had

a pair of shots to win inside the last five seconds against the #2

ranked Blue Devils. Duke won on a last second shot in the ACC

Tournament 66-64, that year.

Duke has a 89-27 lead in the series, including a 50-4 margin in

Durham. Coach K has a 19-2 record against Clemson in games at Duke

and is 35-9 against the Tigers overall. Clemson has won at Duke just

twice since 1978, the 1983-84 season and the 1994-95 season. The win

in 1983-84 was the final year of the Bill Foster era and the 1994-95

season was the first year of the Rick Barnes era.



Clemson in Durham

Clemson has a 4-50 lifetime record at Duke. Clemson lost its first 28

games at Duke before finally breaking through during the 1975-76

season, Bill Foster's first year. Clemson won that game 90-89. After the game Foster noticed that sports information director Bob

Bradley was especially excited after the victory. "I didn't

understand why Bob Bradley was hugging me until he said we had never

won at Duke," said Foster years later. "He had seen a lot of those

losses. I really didn't know it until after the game." Clemson made

it two in a row in Durham under Bill Foster in Tree Rollins' senior

year, 1976-77, a 80-73 Tiger victory.

Foster has three of Clemson's four wins at Duke and his third was one

of the more unlikely Clemson victories in history. Playing a game on

Feb. 29 is unlikely enough since the date only occurs every four

years, but Clemson entered the game on an 11-game ACC losing streak.

Clemson had not won a league game since Jan. 11 and Duke was ranked

15th in the nation and was a lock for the NCAA Tournament. On top of

that, it was senior night at Duke.

Clemson played as well as it could play and had a 76-61 lead with six

minutes left. A young freshman named Horace Grant had a perfect game,

6-6 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line. But, Johnny Dawkins

led a furious comeback and outscored Clemson 15-1 down the stretch.

Clemson's only score was a Mike Eppley free throw.

Duke had a final shot in the final moments, but Dawkins shot from the

right corner missed and Clemson had the victory. It would be the last

ACC game for Foster, who went to restart the University of Miami's

basketball program the following year.

The same can probably be said for most teams, but Duke is certainly

more dominant in the series at Cameron Indoor Stadium than at

Clemson. Over the last six years, Clemson is 2-4 against Duke at

Littlejohn Coliseum and 0-6 away. Duke has an average scoring margin

of 7.5 points per game in games at Clemson and 23.3 points per game

in the six games at Duke. Larry Shyatt has lost three games by 102

points in his three previous trips to Duke.



Clemson's Last Win in Durham...

Clemson 75, Duke 70

Jan. 4, 1995 at Durham, NC

Clemson's most recent victory at Duke was an upset of a #9 Duke team.

It was the ACC opener for both schools and the first time in eight

years (1986-87) that Clemson had won its ACC opener. It was just the

second time in 12 years that Duke had lost its ACC opener, and just

the sixth loss for the Blue Devils in their last 88 home games.

Clemson had not won at Duke in 11 seasons.

Rayfield Ragland scored 16 points in the last 16 minutes of the game,

11 in the last five, to lead five Clemson double figure scorers in a

75-70 Clemson held the lead for exactly 32 of the 40 minutes,

including all but one of the media timeouts. The Tigers had a lead of

45-33 early in the second half, but Duke cut the margin two at 60-58

with 3:57 left. Duke had the ball with a chance to tie or take the

lead with a three-pointer, but the Clemson defense responded and Duke

missed from the outside. Rayfield Ragland then hit a jumper and a

three-pointer to bring the Tigers back to a seven-point margin and

Duke never got closer than five points.

Supporting Ragland were Merl Code with 13 points and nine assists,

Bill Harder with a season high 12 points, Greg Buckner with 11

points, six rebounds and three steals and Bruce Martin with 11

points, all in the first half. Martin is now an assistant athletic

director for men's basketball at Clemson. All seven Tigers who played

hit at least one three-point shot, as Clemson made 10-15 threes in

the game and shot 55.3 percent overall. Clemson hit 55.3 from the

field, 66.7 on three-pointers and 76 percent from the foul line. Duke

shot 41 percent from the field, 37 percent on threes and 83 percent

from the line. Clemson had just 10 turnovers in the game. Clemson's defense was outstanding against the Duke post players.

Cherokee Parks and Erik Meeks were a combined 5-10 from the field and

did not make a field goal the last 32 minutes of the game.



Clemson Looks for a Top-Five Win

Clemson has had a history of upsetting top teams over the years.

There have been 15 wins over teams who have been ranked in the top

five in the nation entering the game.

The most shocking upset in Clemson history took place last year when

the Tigers defeated #1 ranked North Carolina on Feb. 18, 2001. North

Carolina entered the game with an 18-game winning streak, a

number-one ranking and a full week to prepare for the game. Clemson

was on an eight-game losing streak and had just lost by 34 points at

N.C. State the previous game.

Clemson's only other win against number-one took place in 1980

against Duke, an 87-82 win in overtime. Clemson has never beaten the

number-one team away from home. The closest Clemson has come to that

accomplishment was in the 1998 ACC Tournament when Duke defeated

Clemson 66-64 in Greensboro. William Avery hit a shot with one second

left to give Duke the win.

Clemson's first win over a top five team in Littlejohn Coliseum took

place in 1974-75 when a Clemson team led by Skip Wise defeated

Maryland, 83-82. Maryland was ranked third in AP and fourth by UPI

entering that contest.

Clemson has three top five wins on the opponents home court in

history, one of those was at Maryland, 82-77 over #2 Terps in

1975-76. Clemson has five top five wins away from home altogether

with the last coming against #3 Kentucky in 1996-97. Clemson has

defeated a top five Duke team twice, in 1979-80 when Duke was ranked

first and in 1990 when Clemson needed the win to gain its only ACC

championship.



Here is a Chronological list of Clemson's top five wins In History


				Opp Rk

Year Opponent Score Mar AP-Coach

1966-67 N. Carolina (N) 92-88 +4 4-3

1974-75 Maryland 83-82 +1 3-4

1974-75 N.C. State 92-70 +22 4-4

1975-76 at Wake Forest 86-81 +5 5-5

1975-76 at Maryland 82-77 +5 2-3

1976-77 at Wake Forest 70-66 +4 4-6

1978-79 North Carolina 66-61 +5 2-2

1979-80 North Carolina 93-76 +17 6-4

1979-80 Duke 87-82 +5 1-1

1979-80 Maryland 90-81 +9 7-5

1980-81 Wake Forest 81-71 +10 5-5

1989-90 Duke 97-93 +4 5-4

1993-94 North Carolina 77-69 +8 2-4

1996-97 Kentucky (N) 79-71 +8 3-4

2000-01 N. Carolina 75-65 +10 1-1



Winning in the Triangle

Over the years Clemson's basketball team has viewed traveling to the

North Carolina Triangle like sailors view boating through the Bermuda

Triangle. Clemson had won just nine regular season games in 135

contests at North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke heading into the

1994-95 season. Since that year Clemson has a 5-15 record at Duke,

N.C. State and North Carolina combined, so the mark is now 14-139 at

those three sites combined.

The 1994-95 season was the first time in Clemson history that the

Tigers had won their first two games in the Triangle and it was just

the second time Clemson had won at least two games in the Triangle in

the same year. Clemson also won at Duke and N.C. State in 1976-77,

Tree Rollins' senior season. Clemson has never won at North Carolina

and obviously has never swept all three games in the North Carolina

Triangle.

Clemson's overall record in the North Carolina Triangle, including

conference tournaments (ACC or Southern) is now is 23-159. Cliff

Ellis won in the Triangle just twice in 30 games, both at N.C. State

(1986-87 and 1993-94, his last appearance in the triangle). Bill

Foster has five of the 14 regular season Clemson wins in the

Triangle. Rick Barnes had four triangle wins in his four years as

head coach. Larry Shyatt defeated N.C. State in Raleigh his second

year.

Clemson has a lifetime record of 10-42 at N.C. State, 4-50 at Duke

and 0-47 at North Carolina in regular season play. The list below

does not count ACC or Southern Conference Tournament games played in

Raleigh. Clemson has won nine games in conference tournaments in

Raleigh, including its most successful Southern Conference and ACC

Tournaments in history. Clemson won the Southern Conference

Tournament in Raleigh in 1939, its only conference tournament

championship in history. In 1962 the Tigers advanced to the finals of

the ACC Tournament at the Reynolds Coliseum with victories over N.C.

State and Duke. It is Clemson's only appearance in the ACC Tournament

Championship game.



Clemson's Regular Season Wins in the North Carolina Triangle (At UNC, N.C. State or Duke)


Years	Opponent	Score

1939-40 N.C. State 48-38

1963-64 N.C. State 66-52

1975-76 Duke 90-89

1976-77 Duke 80-73

N.C. State 68-66

1980-81 N.C. State 82-76

1983-84 Duke 77-76

1986-87 N.C. State 78-75

1993-94 N.C. State 82-63

1994-95 Duke 75-70

N.C. State 60-55

1995-96 N.C. State 80-76

1997-98 N.C. State 77-72

1999-00 N.C. State 66-63



Ranked Road Wins for Tigers

Clemson has 10 wins over ranked ACC teams in its history. Duke is

ranked first in both polls this week. Clemson has three wins over

ranked teams on the road in the last eight years. Clemson never beat

a ranked ACC team on the road until the 1975-76 season, Bill Foster's

first year at Clemson. He actually defeated two top-five ACC teams on

the road in his first two ACC road games, winning at fifth-ranked

Wake Forest and second-ranked Maryland. Foster has five of Clemson's

10 wins over ranked ACC teams on the road in school history.



Clemson Wins over Ranked ACC Teams on the Road


Date    	Opponent	Score	Mar	AP-UPI/USA

1-17-1976 at Wake Forest 86-81 +5 5-5

1-21-1976 at Maryland 82-77 +5 2-3

2-8-1977 at Wake Forest 70-66 +4 4-6

2-15-1978 at Virginia 63-55 +8 17-16

2-29-1984 at Duke 77-76 +1 15-18

1-8-1985 at Georgia Tech 90-81 +9 8-7

2-4-1993 at Georgia Tech 83-80 +3 22-22

1-4-1995 at Duke 75-70 +5 11-9

12-7-1996 at Virginia 62-52 +10 25-NR

1-15-1997 at Maryland 67-63 +4 11-12



Iron Man Scott

When Tony Stockman missed the Wofford and Penn State games because of

a knee injury, Edward Scott stepped up to go the distance. He played

all 40 minutes in each contest and is averaging 34.2 minutes per game

for the season. That is up from last year when he played 33.3 minutes

per game. Scott played exactly 1,000 minutes in 30 games last year. Scott has been very efficient in running the Clemson offense this

year. Through five games he has 39 assists and just 17 turnovers.

That is a 2.83 assist/turnover ratio. Scott leads the ACC in assists

with 6.5 per game. In the last four games combined the Clemson

captain has 32 assists. He never had more than seven assists in a

game over his first two years. He has had at least nine in three of

the last four games. He had a career high 11 in the win over Wofford

on Nov. 24.



Scott is dealing out assists at quite a rate. His 6.5 per game rate

would be fourth best in Clemson history. Grayson Marshall, Clemson's

all-time leader in assists, averaged a record 7.71 per game in

1985-86 and followed that with 7.37 per game in 1986-87. Those are

the only averages over seven assists per game in school history. Scott has been contributing in all phases of the game so far this

year. In addition to his 6.5 assists per game, he is also scoring

10.5 points a game and contributing 4.3 rebounds from his point guard

position. In the win over Penn State he had eight points, nine

assists and seven rebounds. It marked the second time in his career

he had at least six in each category. He had 14 points, seven assists

and six rebounds at Coastal Carolina last season.



Clemson Overcomes Double Digit Halftime Deficit

Clemson has overcome a double-digit halftime deficit to gain victory

in two of its last three games. That was the first time in school

history that Clemson had done that in consecutive games. Clemson overcame a 14-point first half deficit and an 11-point

halftime deficit to defeat Wofford on Nov. 24, 85-82. It marked just

the second time since 1990 that Clemson had overcome a double-digit

deficit at intermission to gain victory. It marked just the fifth

time since 1990 that Clemson had overcome a deficit of at least 14

points at any juncture of the game to gain victory.

Clemson followed that up with a just as impressive comeback at Penn

State. Clemson trailed by 14 points in the first half, 26-12, and

trailed 44-34 at halftime. The Tigers won the second half 45-22 to

claim a 79-66 win. That marked just the third time in school history

that Clemson has overcome a double digit halftime deficit to win a

road game. The others took place at Coastal Carolina last year and at

Furman in 1973-74, Tree Rollins's freshman season. Clemson overcame a

13-point deficit in that game.

The greatest halftime deficit overcome to gain victory took place in

the 1990 NCAA Tournament when Clemson defeated La Salle. The Tigers

trailed the Explorers 43-27 at intermission before winning 79-75.

Clemson trailed by 19 points in the first half of that game. The

greatest comeback in school history took place in 1978-79 against The

Citadel. Clemson found itself down by 20 points at 26-6 in the first

half before rallying for a 71-58 win at Clemson.

Clemson has outscored the opposition by 37 points in the second half

this year, a key to its 5-1 record. Clemson shot 57.6 percent from

the field, had a +11 rebound margin and scored 51 points in the

second half of the win vs. Wofford. Clemson followed that with a 59

percent field goal accuracy, a +12 rebound margin and 45 points in

the second half at Penn State.



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