Clemson crushes Syracuse to extend winning streak to four

Chase Hunter reached 20+ points for the sixth time this season and the third time in four games.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Wednesday, January 22 2025

CLEMSON - The temperatures outside Littlejohn were frigid throughout the evening, but Chase Hunter did more than enough to bring the heat.

Clemson’s (16-4, 8-1 ACC) winning ways continued Wednesday night, soaring past Syracuse (9-10, 3-5 ACC) for its fourth win in a row, 86-72.

The Tigers and Orange appeared to be on a direct course for a tight contest in conference play, especially with JJ Starling dropping 11 points in the first nine minutes of plans.

Hunter had different ideas.

The ACC’s leader in three-point percentage continues to scorch his opposition from deep, nailing four three-pointers in the final 12 minutes of play, as Clemson created massive separation at the half.

Hunter finished with 23 points, continuing to play his best basketball at the right time. This is Hunter’s sixth game with 20 points or more this season.

However, his efforts weren’t the only contributions from the Tiger backcourt, as Jaeden Zackery continues to prove to be an excellent counterpart alongside Hunter.

Zackery added 14 points with two steals, setting the tone for an active night for the defense, totaling nine steals against the Orange. Clemson’s guards did damage on the offensive side, but in several instances, the relentless pursuit led to easy fastbreak buckets, collecting 19 points off of 13 Syracuse turnovers.

With Dillon Hunter missing Wednesday’s action with an illness, Del Jones filled some of those missing minutes with quality play of his own. Jones added nine points, providing his trademark twitchy energy that the freshman has become synonymous with off the bench.

The Tigers led by 19 at the half, echoing back to a dominant first half against Pittsburgh, only to nearly fall apart on the road.

Back at home facing Syracuse, Clemson left zero doubt that another win would be attached to its record. The Tigers led by as much as 24, removing any doubt that this lead was secure.

Starling led the Orange with 17 in the first half, but the Tiger defense held the electric guard in check in the second half, limiting his totals to eight in the final 20 minutes.

Clemson assisted on 17 of its 31 makes and outscored Syracuse 40-20 in the paint. Viktor Lakhin recorded a double-double, adding 16 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

The Tigers notch another NET Quad 3 victory, remaining unbeaten in that metric.

With the win, Brad Brownell's group has won seven of its last eight games.

Clemson will head to Blacksburg for a weekend clash with Virginia Tech at 5:00 p.m. on the ACC Network.