Chicken Curse Strikes Again. Tigers hold off USC 61-58 |
CLEMSON, SC - Whatever problems Clemson has, South Carolina seemingly has an
answer. The Tigers, in the throws of a dismal early season, defeated South Carolina for the sixth straight time Thursday night, 61-58, in front of 8,000 at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson (3-5) fell behind by eight early, but the Gamecocks, who came in shooting 47 percent from the field, lost their shooting touch. Clemson brought the crowd in Littlejohn to life with a second half run that put Clemson up 51-43 with 4:30 left. Clemson led 57-49 with a minute left, but South Carolina wasn't dead. The Gamecocks stole two inbound passes by Clemson in the final minute and cut the Clemson's lead to 57-56 with 54 seconds left after a lay-up by Antonio Grant. A couple of free throws by Solomon gave Clemson a 59-56 lead with 32.5 seconds left. Edward Scott's two free throws gave Clemson a 61-58 lead after Herbert Lee Davis cut Clemson's lead to one. Aaron Lucas missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key that would have tied the game with ten seconds left. With 6 seconds left Solomon missed a pair of free throws, leaving the Gamecocks one more chance to tie the game. Check Eidson's off-balance 3-point attempt with 2 seconds left fell off the left side of the rim. Despite a four-minute scoring drought, South Carolina held a 37-35 lead with 12:11 left in the game on a layup by Herbert Lee Davis. Will Solomon, however, hit a pair of 3-pointers to give Clemson a 41-38 lead with 8:40 left in the game. Antonio Grant hit a 3-pointer to tie the game, but Clemson then went on a 10-2 run to take a 51-43 lead with 4:30 left in the game. Adam Allenspach started with run with a pair of free throws and a dunk with 6:34 left in the game. Solomon hit a 3-pointer from the corner to give Clemson its 51-43 lead with 4:30 left. South Carolina led, 27-26, at the half. The Gamecocks survived an eight minute dry spell when they scored just three points. South Carolina led 12-4 after a 15-footer by Chuck Eidson with 14:26 left in the half. Clemson, however went on a 14-3 run. Will Solomon led the run with a lay-up and a free throw with 13:50 left in the half. He then hit a 15-footer with 12:14 left. Arturas Javtokas put the Tigers up 18-15 with a turn-around 10-footer and a free throw with 7:34 left in the half. Antonio Grant put the Gamecocks up 21-20 with a put-back with 4:40 left. The Gamecocks scored ten points over the final six minutes of the half to take a one-point lead into halftime. Herbert Lee Davis led the Gamecocks with seven points in the first half. Solomon led Clemson at the half with nine points. Solomon, though, also had six turnovers. South Carolina, which came into the game shooting 47 percent from the field, shot just 36 percent in the first half (one of eight from 3-point range). Game Fact Player of the Game Stat of the Game Turning Point In The Game Ray Henderson Makes His Presence Known Andrius Jurkunas Has Key Series Of Plays Adam Allenspach has 31 Points In The Last Two Games Freshman Pasha Bains Makes Debut
SOUTH CAROLINA (5-3) Kinloch 2-4 0-0 4, Grant 4-8 0-0 11, Petravicius 0-1 1-5 1, Lucas 4-10 0-0 9, Davis 4-15 4-4 13, Eidson 4-12 4-9 12, Kitchings 4-7 0-1 8, Ross 0-2 0-0 0, Bradley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 9-19 58.
CLEMSON (4-5) Jurkunas 1-3 0-2 2, Nagys 1-3 1-2 3, Allenspach 5-7 3-4 13, Solomon 8-20 6-12 26, Scott 0-7 2-2 2, Javtokas 3-3 1-2 7, Bains 1-5 1-2 4, Henderson 2-3 0-4 4, Braddick 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 30-20 61. Halftime-South Carolina 27, Clemson 26. 3-Point goals-South Carolina 5-22 (Grant 3-6, Lucas 1-5, Davis 1-6, Eidson 0-4, Ross 0-1), Clemson 5-19 (Jurkunas 0-2, Nagys 0-1, Solomon 4-9, Scott 0-2, Bains 1-5). Fouled out-Kinloch. Rebounds- South Carolina 32 (Kitchings 8), Clemson 45 (Solomon 11). Assists-South Carolina 12 (Lucas 4), Clemson 11 (Jurkunas 4). Total fouls-South Carolina 24, Clemson 20. Technicals-South Carolina. A-8,000. On post game altercation: Shyatt: "I think it was a case of an adult acting like a child me included and I don't think that's any part of the story. It's not improtant." Fogler: "What did Larry say? I'll comment after I hear what he said. (told him Shyatt comment).. I'll say the same thing. …I'm not going to get into anything more than Larry Shyatt. If we're going to start this baloney here...what Larry said that's what you can quote me on. Do a story on the game. We're going to end it right now."
Clemson’s 61-58 win was its sixth straight win over the in-state rival Gamecocks...it marked the third straight time the Tigers have won by five points or less.
Will Solomon finished the game with 26 points and 11 rebounds…17 of his points came in the second half…at intermission Clemson had missed all eight of its three-point attempts, but the Tigers made five in the second half with Solomon making four of them on six attempts…his 11 rebounds were the most by a Clemson guard since Greg Buckner grabbed 12 rebounds against Maryland on January 24, 1998.
Clemson won the battle of the boards 45-32…20 of those rebounds came off the offensive glass…the Tigers out rebounded the Gamecocks 17-5 during the final 10 minutes of the game.
After South Carolina raced to a 12-4 lead, Clemson clawed its way back and took the lead for the first time in the game at the 8:14 mark in the first half on a turn around jumper by Arturas Javtokas…the jumper gave Clemson a 17-15 lead and at that point the crowd of over 8,000 became a factor in the game.
Freshman post player Ray Henderson had four blocks in the game for Clemson including one that looked to be an easy lay-up by the Gamecocks before Henderson came out of now where to pin it against the backboard.
Senior Andrius Jurkunas started the South Carolina game, but he is still recovering from a broken thumb suffered during the Central Florida game…beginning at the 5:32 mark in the second half, Jurkunas made a series of key plays for the Tigers…the first came when he took a rebound out of the hands of USC’s Tony Kitchings on the Gamecocks’ end of the floor…Clemson came down the floor and missed, but Jurkunas came up with the offensive rebound which was followed by a Javtokas basket to give Clemson a 48-43 advantage…on Carolina’s next possession Jurkunas defended on Chuck Edison’s miss and again came up with a key rebound…down on Clemson’s end Jurkunas delivered a pass to Solomon on the wing, who hit a three to give Clemson its biggest lead of the game at 51-43.
Junior Adam Allenspach struggled during a recent three-game stretch only scoring a combined 18 points…in his last two games, Allenspach has 31 points including 13 against South Carolina…he was 5-7 from the field and pulled down 11 boards in the win over the Gamecocks.
Freshman transfer Pasha Bains made his Clemson debut against South Carolina…the game did not go as he had hoped as he was 1-5 from the field, however his only basket came at a crucial stage in the game…Bains drained a three from the left wing to push Clemson’s lead back to eight with 2:33 left in the game…Bains finished the game with four points.
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