Clemson overcomes sloppy first half, overwhelms Cal |
CLEMSON - Clemson had a bad case of first-half turnovers on Saturday Night.
The cure to that ailment was shooting the lights out of Littlejohn, offensively overwhelming California to stay perfect in ACC play, 80-68. Despite nearly shooting 60 percent from the field entering halftime, Clemson was deadlocked in a three-point contest with the Golden Bears. The Tigers had two issues to solve in the second half: Turnovers and limiting Andrej Stojakovic. Clemson got to work on its first task of the second half, which started by limiting errors on the ball handling side, cutting its turnovers. The Tigers had seven turnovers in the first 20 minutes, with the Golden Bears keeping things close as they capitalized on 12 points off those turnovers. Clemson limited those mistakes to only five in the second half, as Cal only found five points off those errors. That success also came with improved ball movement, as Clemson assisted on 18 of its 31 made shots. Hunter felt like the Golden Bears sped their process up, but once they found their groove, their confidence was boosted from there. "At halftime, we were getting a little sped up, just making some bad decisions, but once we got comfortable, ran our offense, and played free and confident, we got in a little groove." The other essential item was shutting down Cal’s top offensive option, which was easier said than done. Entering tonight, Stojakovic averaged 19.1 points per game and was the go-to option on Saturday. He continued that trend in Littlejohn, kicking off the first half with 17 points, including a bank shot that beat the buzzer to keep the Golden Bears within three points. It appeared Stojakovic was trending towards another successful half, but a blocked shot by Chase Hunter and a thunderous dunk on the other end shut down any extra momentum. Stojakovic nearly topped his career high on the road (31), but his efforts weren’t enough to pull off the upset. Cal’s top scorer wasn’t the only firepower fans witnessed on Saturday night. Where the Golden Bears’ offensive attack was reliant on their top guy, the Tigers’ offensive attack was a more balanced approach. The Tigers had three starters score double figures, with Ian Schieffelin returning to form with a 21 point outing, shooting 8-10 from the field. The duo of Schieffelin and Hunter combined for 40 points, as Hunter continues to be one of Clemson’s most consistent offensive pieces. Hunter felt like the offense fed off of the momentum from Stanford, as well as the crowd on Saturday night. "Yeah, I think we were all just out there making plays," Hunter said. "I think we were all just out there confident, definitely still confident from that win from Stanford and we were out there making plays for each other, just having fun. The crowd was in it and we were feeding off that energy." Beyond Clemson’s top stars, Chauncey Wiggins continues to emerge as a reliable option for the Tiger offense. He finished with 15 points, and Clemson is now 7-0 when he scores double figures. The Tigers finished the night shooting 62 percent from the field, going 8-18 from beyond the arc. Clemson (12-3, 4-0) also has seen a slightly better start through its first 15 games than last year’s Elite Eight team, which started 11-4 in 2023-24. The Tigers will look to extend its win streak on the road against Louisville on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
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