Hot Shooting Pack Take Out Tigers

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CLEMSON, S.C. - The weather outside may have been icy and cold but inside Littlejohn Coliseum North Carolina State was red hot. Engin Atsur had a career-high 21 points and the Wolfpack shot the best ever three point percentage by an opponent on the Tigers’ home court to propel North Carolina State to an 80-70 victory over Clemson on Saturday.

The Wolfpack were 13 for 20 (65%) on three pointers including 6 for 8 (75%) in the second half. Overall, North Carolina State shot a blistering 62.8% (27-43) from the field.

Julius Hodge added 20 points for North Carolina State (13-7, 3-4 ACC) while point guard Tony Bethel had 14 points in his first action since an illness sidelined him for five games.

Clemson (10-10, 1-7) lost its fifth in a row and seventh in the last eight games.

Despite the hot shooting by the Wolfpack, the Tigers clawed their way from down 15 in the second half to just 6 with 3:27 remaining. However, another three from Atsur and a free throw by Hodge all but ended Clemson’s chances as the lead was pushed back to 10.

Sharrod Ford led the Tigers with 19 point and 10 rebounds. Freshman Cliff Hammonds added 15 and Shawan Robinson had 15.

The Tigers dominated the boards, outrebounding the Wolfpack 36-27 with 15 second chance points on 16 offensive rebounds. However, Clemson once again struggled from the free throw line, shooting 52.4% for the game including 1-8 (12.5%) in the second half.

Clemson only trailed by one, 42-41, at the break despite 64% shooting from the Wolfpack.

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