Undefeated Tigers Roll Past Liberty |
ANDERSON - Though it may have been somewhat lethargic in its first game since upsetting the University of Cincinnati six days before, undefeated Clemson still proved to be too much for Liberty to handle Saturday afternoon. Ed Scott scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, leading four Tigers in double figures, as Clemson rolled over Flames, 78-65, at the Civic Center of Anderson. The victory improves the Tigers to 8-0, their best start since the 11-0 run at the beginning of the 1995-96 season. Clemson is also 3-0 against teams from the Big South Conference so far this year, with one more yet to be played - the Tigers host Coastal Carolina on Tuesday. "I'm pleased our guys feel good about themselves," Clemson head coach Larry Shyatt said. "They're also finding out on what areas they need to improve on, and they are eager to improve. That really excites me." Defensively the Tigers were strong, as they have been in every outing this season. Clemson held Liberty (5-5) to just 37.9 percent (22-of-58) shooting for the game, including 12-of-33 (36.4 percent) from the 3-point arc. The Tigers have yet to allow the opposition to shoot 50 percent or better from the field. The closest was 45 percent by the University of Maine on Dec. 7. Clemson also flexed its muscle inside, dominating the rebounding battle 41-20. It was offensively where the Tigers at times seemed a bit out of sync. Clemson committed 18 turnovers Saturday - a season high - and gave it away on five consecutive possessions at one point in the first half. Of its nine first-half turnovers, seven of them came within the first eight seconds of possession. "That's not like us," Shyatt said. "We've been much better at taking care of the basketball so far this season, especially that early in a possession." When it did protect the ball, Clemson used its superior size to push the ball inside on the Flames. Nineteen of the Tigers' 26 field goals Saturday came within 10 feet of the basket, with 15 of them coming in the paint. Sharrod Ford finished with 14 points and Ray Henderson 11. Along with Chris Hobbs (seven points), the trio shot 10-of-13 from the field and - most importantly - 12-of-15 from the free throw line. For the game Clemson shot 20-of-27 (74.1 percent) from the stripe, its second consecutive effort shooting in the 70s after averaging 59 percent through the first six games. "Our team has responded to the emphasis Ed and Ray have put on free throws," Shyatt said. "They had our team come in a couple of extra times and concentrate on free throws. They know there could have been four or five times this year maybe we could have lost a game because we didn't shoot them well." Chey Christie capped off the Clemson double-figure parade with 11 points. Scott had 11 assists to go with his 16 points, his eighth career double-double, which is a new school record surpassing Grayson Marshall's total of seven set from 1984-88. Scott also moved into third place on the school's all-time career list with 486, trailing only Marshall and Terrell McIntyre. Liberty's Jason Sarchet led all scorers with 22 points. Clemson's final game at the Civic Center of Anderson comes at 4 p.m. Tuesday against Coastal Carolina. The Tigers then return to a revamped Littlejohn Coliseum Jan. 5 for the Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Duke.
VISITORS: Liberty 5-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Turner, Glyn........ f 1-4 1-3 0-0 1 1 2 4 3 5 0 0 1 32
40 Sarchet, Jason...... c 6-11 3-7 7-8 3 3 6 4 22 0 2 0 0 26
10 Williams, Freddy.... g 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 8
12 Williams, Harry..... g 2-6 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 1 5 1 1 0 0 16
24 Mantlo, Ryan........ g 4-12 2-6 0-0 2 2 4 3 10 3 3 0 2 39
00 Riber, Jeff......... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
01 Monceaux, Jeremy.... 1-5 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 7 0 0 0 27
04 Okotie, Vincent..... 3-5 2-3 0-0 0 1 1 4 8 0 2 0 1 19
05 Martin, Gabe........ 4-11 2-6 2-5 0 2 2 4 12 1 1 3 5 31
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 22-58 12-33 9-13 8 12 20 22 65 17 9 3 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 8-24 33.3% 2nd Half: 14-34 41.2% Game: 37.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 8-21 38.1% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 6-9 66.7% Game: 69.2% 4
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HOME TEAM: Clemson Tigers 8-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Ford, Sharrod....... f 5-8 0-0 4-6 3 3 6 3 14 1 0 2 1 30
12 Babalola, Olu....... f 3-3 1-1 0-0 0 4 4 2 7 0 2 0 0 14
21 Henderson, Ray...... c 2-2 0-0 7-8 3 4 7 2 11 0 0 1 0 22
10 Scott, Edward....... g 5-12 2-3 4-5 1 5 6 1 16 11 4 0 1 37
14 Christie, Chey...... g 4-11 1-2 2-2 2 2 4 0 11 2 4 0 1 33
01 Betko, Julian....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 14
11 Shay, Beau.......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 Holt, Walker........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
22 Robinson, Shawan.... 2-5 2-3 2-2 0 2 2 1 8 0 1 0 1 16
24 Shyatt, Geoff....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
33 Akingbala, Akin..... 2-2 0-0 0-1 1 0 1 1 4 0 1 0 0 5
43 Hobbs, Chris........ 3-3 0-0 1-1 1 5 6 4 7 1 3 0 0 23
45 Douglas, Jermel..... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3
TEAM................ 2 2 4
Totals.............. 26-46 6-9 20-27 13 28 41 15 78 18 18 3 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-25 56.0% 2nd Half: 12-21 57.1% Game: 56.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-2 100 % 2nd Half: 4-7 57.1% Game: 66.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 15-20 75.0% Game: 74.1% 2
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Officials: Bryan Kersey, Emanual Upton, William Humes
Technical fouls: Liberty-None. Clemson Tigers-Henderson, Ray.
Attendance: 5000
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Liberty....................... 23 42 - 65
Clemson Tigers................ 35 43 - 78
Points in the paint-LIB 18,CLEM 34. Points off turnovers-LIB 14,CLEM 14.
2nd chance points-LIB 8,CLEM 15. Fast break points-LIB 2,CLEM 2.
Bench points-LIB 25,CLEM 19. Score tied-0 times. Lead changes-0 times.
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