Tigers respond to adversity as a team in early test

Dawes says they were "punched in the mouth" early, but the team leadership was able to rebound. (Photo: Ken Ruinard / USATODAY)

by Zachary Wagner - Correspondent - Wed Nov 10 11:08:03 GMT-04:00 2021

Much like his team, it was a tale of two halves for Clemson guard Al-Amir Dawes on Tuesday night inside of Littlejohn Coliseum in the Tigers’ 64-53 season-opening win over Presbyterian. Dawes scored 21 points on the night, 16 of those coming in the second half that saw Clemson outscore the Blue Hose by 19 to erase an eight-point halftime deficit.

Dawes led Clemson in the scoring column with his 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting, while Hunter Tyson and David Collins both scored 14 points respectively. The junior from New Jersey made four of his last six shots to extend the Clemson lead once they retook it late in the second half.

“In the first half I wasn’t really working that hard,” Dawes said after the win. “At halftime, we got a speech from our coach and he told us we needed to push it and needed to work harder. It was going to be hard with it being the first time the crowd was back. I just had to keep playing with that mindset to keep playing harder and once that happened I was able to get hot.”

Presbyterian kept up a full-court pressure for a majority of the game, and the press gave Clemson some trouble in the first half. Clemson had 14 total turnovers on the night, three of those credited to Dawes.

“Outside of the turnovers I think we came back well against the press,” Dawes said. “Obviously they punched us in the mouth in the first half, but we were able to keep fighting in the second half and get the win.”

With Aamir Simms gone to the NBA G-League after being the voice of leadership the last few seasons in the Clemson locker room. Dawes said not one voice rose above the rest in the halftime speech, but the group is looking to collectively lead this season.

“I think it was more collective, things have really changed since Aamir left,” Dawes said of the leadership of the team. “He was our guy when it came to leadership. At halftime, it was more collective and we all put our pride to the side and said ‘Hey, we have to do our job,’ and it led us to the win.”

Clemson moves to 1-0 on the young season and will be back in action inside of Littlejohn on Friday night at 7 p.m. when they host Wofford (ACCNX). Dawes thinks the team learned a lot about itself Tuesday and will be ready for the challenge the Terriers bring to the court.

“We played well, connected and communicated well with each other tonight,” said Dawes. “That was the big reason we came back in the second half tonight and was able to pull out with the win.”