Game 21 Notes: Clemson vs. North Carolina |
Game 21: Clemson vs. North Carolina Sunday, Jan. 27, 2002 6:00 PM (EST) Littlejohn Coliseum (11,020) Clemson, SC TV: Fox Sports Net Play By Play: Bob Neal * Color Analyst: Dan Bonner * Guest Analyst: Bobby Conrad Radio: Clemson Tiger Sports Properties Play By Play: Jim Phillips * Color Analyst: Tim Bourret Clemson vs. North Carolina Series * Overall, North Carolina holds a 109-17 lead in the series with Clemson that dates to a 48-24 North Carolina win in Chapel Hill in 1926. Clemson's first win in the series took place 53 years ago, when Clemson upset North Carolina in the 1939 Southern Conference Tournament behind Banks McFadden, 44-43. Clemson went on to win its only postseason tournament title at the event. Clemson's only other win in the series before 1964 took place in Tigertown, 77-69 in 1952. * It is well documented that Clemson has lost 47 straight games in Chapel Hill. Clemson is 0-47 against the Tar Heels in that city since that first game in the series in 1926. The closest Clemson has come to victory took place in 1973-74, a 61-60 North Carolina victory. That was Tree Rollins's freshman season. * North Carolina won two of the three meetings last year. Clemson's win took place at Clemson on Feb. 18 and Clemson broke the Tar Heels 18-game winning streak that Sunday afternoon, 75-65. North Carolina was #1 ranked entering the game, and it was just the second win over #1 in Clemson history. * North Carolina has won five of the seven meetings with Clemson since Larry Shyatt became head coach of the Tigers. Both Clemson wins were over top-10 North Carolina teams. Clemson defeated a ninth-ranked North Carolina team, 78-63 in 1998-99, Larry Shyatt's first year as Clemson head coach. The other victory was the aforementioned win over #1 UNC last year. * Shyatt has already exceeded the victory total Rick Barnes had against North Carolina. Barnes was 1-9 against North Carolina in his four years. But, that one win was a landmark victory. Greg Buckner's dunk with 0.6 seconds left gave Clemson a 75-73 win in Greensboro in the 1996 ACC Tournament. It is Clemson's only win in history over the Tar Heels in the ACC Tourney. That was Clemson's first over North Carolina in the state of North Carolina since 1967 (North-South Doubleheader in Charlotte). * Clemson won four out of eight games played between 1964-67. That is the most wins for Clemson in a four-year period against the Tar Heels. The Tigers swept North Carolina in 1963-64. The road win was in Charlotte at the North-South Doubleheader, not in Chapel Hill. * Clemson has defeated North Carolina in consecutive seasons just twice, 1978-79 and 1979-80, and 1988-89 and 1989-90. A victory Sunday would mark a third occasion. * Clemson is 13-31 against North Carolina in games played at Clemson, including 10-21 in Littlejohn Coliseum, 0-47 in Chapel Hill and 4-31 in games played at neutral sites. Last Year vs. North Carolina North Carolina 92, Clemson 65 Jan. 17, 2001 at Chapel Hill, NC North Carolina used a balanced attack, a 24/12 assist/turnover ratio and 12 made three-point goals in defeating Clemson 92-65 on Jan. 17, 2001. It was the 47th straight victory for North Carolina over the Tigers in Chapel Hill. Clemson was led by Will Solomon, who scored 17 points, but 15 of those came in the first 12 minutes of the game. North Carolina made a point of stopping him after his 6-9 shooting start. Dwon Clifton added nine points, as did Jamar McKnight, who played just 11 minutes. Clemson held its own in terms of rebounding, tying the larger Tar Heels 41-41 in that area. A big difference came in the area of turnovers, where North Carolina committed only 12, while the Tigers had 20. North Carolina had nine blocked shots, including six by senior center Brendan Haywood. Joseph Forte led North Carolina in scoring with 13, while Kris Lang added 13. Jason Capel had 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Clemson center Adam Allenspach played just seven minutes due to back spasms and did not score. Freshman Chris Hobbs, returning to his hometown of Chapel Hill, had eight rebounds in just 13 minutes, but fouled out. Ray Henderson, also a North Carolina native, had eight rebounds in 23 minutes. Clemson was competitive for the first 15 minutes, trailing by just 34-26. But, North Carolina extended the lead to 44-31 by intermission. The Tigers made just three of their first 16 shots and committed seven turnovers over the first seven minutes of the second half. North Carolina used a 20-4 run during that time to take a 29-point lead. Clemson finally got its offense untracked in the last five minutes of the game, scoring 20 points in that time period. Clemson shot 39 percent for the game, including 38 percent on three-point shots. North Carolina hit 51 percent from the field, including 12-27 on three-point goals. Six different Tar Heels made at least one three-point goal, including point guard Ronald Curry, who was 2-3 from long range. Clemson 75, #1 North Carolina 65 February 18, 2001 at Clemson, SC Clemson rode a 26-point performance from Will Solomon, plus 16 from freshman guard Tony Stockman and upset number-one ranked North Carolina 75-65 at a sold out Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 18, 2001. It was just the second time in Clemson history and the first time in 21 years that the Tigers upset the nation's top ranked team. Clemson also had outstanding play off the bench from Jamar McKnight and Tomas Nagys. McKnight, who had scored just 27 points in ACC play all year, had eight points in 17 minutes off the bench. He made 4-7 shots, had five rebounds and did not commit a turnover. Nagys had five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. His two field goals were spectacular and were scored in the clutch. One was a three-pointer, just the second of his career, and another was a diving shot from 10 feet out over Julius Peppers. They were scored on consecutive Clemson possessions that gave the Tigers a nine-point lead with nine minutes left. Solomon scored his 26 points in just 25 minutes. He also had four rebounds and three assists and connected on 5-12 three-point shots. Stockman scored 4-9 three-point goals in tallying his 16 points. He had just one turnover in 35 minutes of play. Point guard Edward Scott had nine points, four assists and no turnovers in 34 minutes. Freshman Chris Hobbs added six points and a team best eight rebounds. North Carolina was led by Jason Capel, Brendan Haywood and Joseph Forte, who all scored 16 points apiece. Forte entered the game second in the ACC in scoring behind Will Solomon by just two total points (489-487). But, the gifted North Carolina guard made just 6-19 shots from the field, 0-4 on three-point attempts. The much smaller Tigers won the rebounding battle, 44-41. Both teams committed just seven turnovers. It was the lowest turnover total all year for the Tigers. North Carolina made just 38.5 percent of its field goal attempts, its low figure for the year. That included just 1-14 three-point shots in the second half. The Tar Heels made just 7-15 from the foul line. North Carolina held a 35-30 lead at intermission behind 13 points from Jason Capel. Clemson held Forte to just one point in the first half. Clemson was led by Stockman and Solomon with eight points apiece. The Tar Heels expanded the margin to seven at 37-30 to open the second half. But, Will Solomon scored 10 consecutive points in a 3:04 time span to tie the score at 42. A reverse layup by Jamar McKnight at the 15:11 mark, put Clemson up 44-42. North Carolina never regained the lead. Clemson went on a 7-0 run, five of the points by Nagys, to take a 54-45 lead at the 9:11 mark. Forte finally got going at this point. He scored eight straight points at one stretch, then a Brendan Haywood dunk brought North Carolina to within 61-60 with 3:48 left. He was called for a technical on the play for grabbing the rim. Will Solomon made the free throw, then Clemson missed a shot. On the next possession, freshman Tony Stockman stole the ball and scored to give Clemson a 64-60 lead. Chris Hobbs's baseline drive gave Clemson a 66-62 lead, then Tony Stockman made a three-point shot with 44 seconds left to give Clemson a seven-point lead. The Tigers made 7-7 free throws in the last minute to ice the game. Clemson went on an 11-3 run to finish off the Tar Heels. How Shocking an Upset? Here are some facts on Clemson's upset of #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18, 2001 * Clemson had lost eight straight games, while North Carolina, ranked number-one in the nation, had won 18 in a row. North Carolina was first in the ACC standings with a perfect 11-0 record, while Clemson was last with a 1-10 mark. * Clemson was coming off a 34-point loss at N.C. State, its largest margin of defeat against the Pack since 1955. North Carolina had eight days to prepare for the game. * Clemson entered in the game with an eight-game losing streak, its longest since 1971-72 when it had a nine-game losing streak. North Carolina's 18-game winning streak was the longest in the nation and the Tar Heels longest since 1986-87. * Clemson had lost 19 in a row to the nation's number-one ranked team dating to Jan. 9, 1980, an 87-82 overtime victory against #1 Duke. Clemson was 1-22 lifetime against the number-one team in the nation heading into the contest. * Clemson had been 0-10 when playing a #1 ranked North Carolina team. * Clemson had been 0-9 against top-25 teams in 2000-01 and had lost 12 in a row over ranked teams dating to last year's win over 21st ranked North Carolina State. * Clemson had been 1-12 in 2000-01 when trailing at halftime. The Tigers trailed 35-30 at halftime of this game. It was just the third time since the 1952-53 season that Clemson had trailed at the half against North Carolina, then came back to gain victory. * Clemson had been 8-20 all-time in games played on Feb. 18, Clemson's worst winning percentage of the 29 days in the month of February. * Matt Doherty had never lost as a player or coach to Clemson, 10-0 as a player, 1-0 as a coach. * You can make a case that Clemson's 75-65 win over #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18, 2001 was the biggest upset in college basketball in 23 years. What is the basis? Clemson's victory marked the first time since the 1978-79 season that a team with a losing record after Jan. 15 defeated the number-one team in the nation. Doherty Returns to Littlejohn North Carolina coach Matt Doherty had a perfect 4-0 record as a player in Littlejohn Coliseum between 1980-84. In fact, Doherty never lost any game to Clemson in his career (10-0). Clemson gave the Tar Heels a good game each time at Littlejohn, losing by an average of 8.5 points a game. For the four games at Littlejohn, Doherty shot 10-25 from the field, 7-8 from the line, had 17 rebounds and 27 points (6.8 per game). He had an outstanding 12/2 assist/turnover ratio on the four games combined and averaged 35.5 minutes per game. He had one double figure scoring game, 11 points and six assists as a senior in a 82-71 North Carolina win. Doherty had 28 points against Clemson in the 1983 ACC Tournament as a junior. He connected on 5-6 three-point goals in the game. Michael Jordan matched his point total in North Carolina's victory at The Omni in Atlanta. Clemson with Better Record than North Carolina This is the first time since the 1996-97 season that Clemson enters a game with North Carolina with the better record. That year, for a Jan. 26, 1997 game in Chapel Hill the Tigers were 16-2 and North Carolina was 11-5. Clemson, ranked a program-best second in the nation in the AP poll entering the contest, was 5-1 in the ACC, while 19th-ranked North Carolina was 2-4. North Carolina came out on top in that game, 61-48 at the Smith Center. Later that year, Clemson was 20-7 (.741) and North Carolina 19-6 (.760) entering the game at Clemson. The Tar Heels won that game also, 76-69. Clemson went on to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament that year, while North Carolina reached the Final Four. Entering this Sunday's game, Clemson is 11-9 overall, 2-5 in the ACC, while North Carolina is 5-11 overall and 1-5 in the ACC. Veterans Career Stats vs. North Carolina Tony Stockman has a 11.3 scoring average for his career and is shooting 40 percent on three-point goals... Stockman's three-point goal with 44 seconds left gave Clemson a seven-point lead on the way to the 10-point triumph... Ray Henderson has a Denis Rodman-like 22 points and 31 rebounds stat line against the Tar Heels for his career... Edward Scott has a 16/3 assist/turnover ratio for five games against North Carolina... Dwon Clifton is a 35 percent shooter for his career overall, but is 4-8 overall and 2-3 on three-point goals against the Tar Heels. Tigers From North Carolina Four Clemson players, including starting post players Chris Hobbs and Ray Henderson, are natives of the state of North Carolina. Playing games against teams from the Tar Heel state are usually special to them. Key reserve Dwon Clifton and original walk-on now on scholarship Walker Holt are also from North Carolina. Hobbs is from Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill High. Both his parents are North Carolina graduates. Henderson is from Charlotte and East Mecklenberg High School. Holt is from Grimsley High in Greensboro, while Clifton attended Westchester Academy and is a native of High Point. Hobbs and Henderson average 21.7 points and 15.6 rebounds per game. Both are shooting over 55 percent from the field. This is the second largest contingent of players from the Tar Heel state on the Clemson roster. Last year six Tigers from North Carolina were on the 14-man roster. This year it is four of 15. One of Clemson's signees for next year, Shawan Robinson, is from Raleigh, NC and Leesville Road High School. Clemson Schedule Notes Clemson has lost four in a row since a 16-point win over Virginia on Jan. 8... Clemson had not lost consecutive games over the first 17 games of the season, now has lost four in a row... Clemson began the season with five of its first seven ACC games on the road, the only ACC team that has that kind of a schedule... it is the first time Clemson has played five of its first league games on the road since 1987-88... still, Clemson's 2-5 league record is its best in the first half of the schedule since 1997-98 when Clemson was 3-5 for the first half of the schedule... the North Carolina game will begin a stretch of six games at home in an eight-game period... Clemson has just three ACC road games left, at Virginia (Feb. 10), at N.C. State (Feb. 16) and at North Carolina (Feb. 27)... Clemson has just one more ACC road game left during the week. Clifton Has More Steals Than Turnovers Clemson reserve forward Dwon Clifton has struggled from the field of late, but he has contributed when it comes to defense and ball handling. Entering the North Carolina game, Clifton has 40 steals and just 39 turnovers for his 51-game career as a Clemson player. How rare is it to have more steals than turnovers? Only one other player in Clemson history who has played at least 15 games has more steals than turnovers in a career. Sean Tyson, who played for the Tigers from 1987-91, had 104 steals and just 97 turnovers for his 72-game career. The only other player who was close was Greg Buckner, who had 179 steals and 182 turnovers between 1994-98. Buckner is now with the Dallas Mavericks. This year Clifton has 21 steals, third best on the team and just 15 turnovers. He has a 24/15 assist/turnover ratio for this year. Clemson's Last Outing Florida State 68, Clemson 63 Jan. 24 at Tallahassee, FL Florida State outscored Clemson14-3 over the last seven minutes of the game and went on to a 68-63 win in Tallahassee on Jan. 24. It was Clemson's fourth straight loss overall and its fourth straight loss to the Seminoles in Tallahassee. All four of those defeats in Tallahassee have been by seven points or less. Clemson was led by Tony Stockman, who had 22 points, including 20 in the game's first 12:19. Jamar McKnight added 13 points, but those were the only double figure scorers for Clemson. Edward Scott scored nine and added eight assists and six rebounds. Ray Henderson had just four points, but pulled in nine rebounds. Florida State was led by Monte Cummings with 17 points, while Antwuan Dixon added 15, including three three-point goals in the last 12 minutes of the game. Clemson shot just 27.6 percent in the second half, including 1-10 on three-point goals. The Tigers made just one of their last 14 shots over the last nine minutes of the contest. Clemson was 0-8 inside the last five minutes. The Tigers held the lead in the game from the 15:17 mark of the first half until the 5:02 mark when the score was tied at 60. Stockman made seven of his first 10 shots from the field, including 6-8 on three-point attempts in the first 12:19 to lead Clemson to a 10-point advantage at 30-20. Clemson advanced the lead to a game high 34-22 with 5:27 left. But, FSU cut the lead to one with nine seconds left. Then, Scott hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to give Clemson a 41-37 lead at intermission. Normally the first five minutes of the second half will have a big bearing on the final outcome. That was not the case in this game. Clemson brought the lead to 47-37 three minutes into the second half on a jumper by Ray Henderson. Clemson still led by eight at 58-50 with 9:19 left on a dunk by freshman Sharrod Ford off a feed from Scott. But Clemson would score just one field goal by Ford the rest of the game, as the Seminoles turned up the defense. It was still a 60-60 game at the final media timeout, but FSU went on an 8-3 run to close the game. Monte Cummings made 4-4 free throws down the stretch that were key to the FSU win. Clemson won the rebound battle 42-39 and won the offensive rebounds 17-11. Despite this offensive rebound margin, Clemson scored just four second-chance points the entire game. FSU scored 11. The Seminoles attempted 28 free throws and made 17, while Clemson attempted just 10 and made seven. It was the 18th-straight loss for Clemson when the opposition made more free throws than Clemson attempted. Florida State was whistled for just 13 fouls the entire game and Clemson never got into the 1-1 until the final 2:18 of the game. Bobby Conrad Back at Clemson Former Clemson point guard Bobby Conrad will return to Clemson this weekend to provide commentary as a guest analyst on the Clemson vs. North Carolina game. The contest will be televised by FOX Sports Net to the entire nation. For each Sunday evening game the network employs a guest analyst that played for the host institution. This Sunday, he will actually introduce the broadcast from a mock trial scene in Clemson Municipal Court. Conrad played for the Tigers from 1976-80 and was the starting point guard on Clemson's most successful NCAA Tournament team in history, the 1980 squad that reached the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament. He is now one of the top federal prosecutors in the Carolinas. The 43-year-old Conrad was confirmed by the United States Senate as United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina this past fall. United States Senator Jesse Helms recommended that President George Bush nominate Conrad. Conrad became a national figure last year when he was named by then United States Attorney General Janet Reno to head up Justice Department's task force investigating illegal campaign fund raising. During the process in April of 2000 he questioned President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore. The Tigers were 23-9 his senior season and defeated six top 20 teams, most in a season in school history. Conrad was a three-time Academic All-ACC selection. He concluded his career with 542 points and 402 assists. He played in 116 games in his career and was a 72 percent free throw shooter. He made 8-8 free throws in clutch situations in Clemson's 87-82 overtime victory over Duke in 1980, Clemson's first win in history over the nation's number-one ranked team. He still ranks fourth in school history in assists. Christie and Buckner Return to School Former Tigers Tony Christie and Greg Buckner are both pursuing their degrees from Clemson. Christie, who played for the Tigers from 1995-99, is the brother of current freshman Chey Christie. Tony was a member of three NCAA Tournament teams and an NIT finalist. He played this past fall with the Greenville team in the NBA's development league. He enrolled in the second semester at Clemson and is anticipating a graduation in August. Buckner, who has started half the games this year with Dallas and is shooting better than 50 percent from the field, played for the Tigers from 1994-98. He was back at Clemson this past summer and will return at the conclusion of the NBA season to finish his degree. Both Buckner and Christie had big contributions to wins over North Carolina in their careers. Buckner made the most famous dunk in Clemson history in the 1996 ACC Tournament when he dunked with six seconds left to give Clemson a 75-73 victory. It is Clemson's only ACC Tournament win over the Tar Heels. Christie scored 15 points in Clemson's 15-point win over a ninth ranked North Carolina team in 1998-99, his senior season. Clemson at Maryland Review Maryland 99, Clemson 90 Jan. 20, 2002 at Cole Fieldhouse Clemson placed all five starters in double figures and made a school record tying 15 three-point goals, yet lost to third-ranked Maryland in College Park, 99-90 on Jan. 20. Clemson also had a +10 rebound margin and blocked six shots defensively. Tony Stockman led the Tigers with 22 points, including 6-13 on three-point goals. Edward Scott contributed 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in playing all 40 minutes. The scoring total was his top effort in an ACC game as a Clemson player. Jamar McKnight scored 10 points in the game's first five minutes and finished the game with 19. He also had six rebounds, added a career-high four assists and was 3-4 on three-point shooting. Ray Henderson added his eighth double-double of the season as he collected 11 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. Chris Hobbs had 12 points and nine rebounds to round out Clemson's double-digit scorers. Maryland was led by Juan Dixon with 23 points, while Lonny Baxter added 21. Chris Wilcox was the top Terp overall with 17 points and a game high 14 rebounds. Drew Nicholas added 14 points and six assists off the bench. Steve Blake scored just three points, but had 13 assists in running the Maryland offense. Byron Mouton scored 14 points, including 4-6 on three-point goals. Mouton had made just seven three-point goals all year entering the game. The contest was close throughout as there were 19 lead changes and 13 ties in the game, including 15 lead changes in the first half. Clemson made seven of its first eight shots from the field and led 24-23 at the 12:32 mark of the first half. McKnight, Scott and Stockman connected on long-range jumpers, while Maryland scored from the inside. Tiger turnovers were a key in the first half as Maryland had a 19-1 lead in points off turnovers at intermission. It was a 52-48 lead for Maryland at intermission. Clemson made 11-16 three-point attempts in the first half, a school record for made three-point goals in a half. Maryland pushed the lead to 11 points at 62-51 at the 16:07 mark of the second half and it appeared the Tigers were wilting. But, Clemson struck back and tied the score at 67 on a layup by Dwon Clifton. The score remained close the rest of the game. The contest was tied at 72, 74, and 80. Clemson took an 83-82 lead with 4:41 left on a layup by Chris Hobbs. But, Maryland made some clutch three-point baskets down the stretch, one by Nicholas and one by Dixon and held a 93-86 lead with 1:49 left. Clemson cut the lead to six in the final minute, but could not get a stop and the Terps had a nine-point win. Maryland's ability to control the ball had a lot to do with its victory. The Terps had a 27-6 assist/turnover ratio for the night, fourth best ratio ever against the Tigers. Clemson Starting Backcourt Has Pair of 20-Point Scorers Clemson got 20 points apiece from its starting backcourt of Tony Stockman (22) and Edward Scott (20) in the Maryland contest. It was the first time both have scored at least 20 in the same game. It was the first time Clemson's starting backcourt has each scored 20 in the same game since last year's Georgia Tech contest when Stockman had 20 and Will Solomon scored 41 in a 111-108 loss to the Yellow Jackets in Littlejohn Coliseum. It marked the third time this year that two different Tigers reached the 20-point mark in the same game. In the win over Georgia Tech, Chris Hobbs tallied 25 and Jamar McKnight added 22, the only time this year the Clemson starting forwards scored at least 20 in the same game. The other occurrence came at Duke when Hobbs had 25 and Chey Christie scored 21 off the bench. Jamar McKnight scored 19 points at Maryland, nearly giving Clemson three 20-point scorers in the same game. Each of the last two times Clemson has had three 20-point scorers in the same game the opponent was Florida State. In 1992-93 Clemson got 24 points from Sharone Wright, 23 from Devin Gray and 20 from Chris Whitney enabled Clemson to gain a 87-75 win in the ACC Tournament. Earlier that year at Tallahassee, Clemson also had three 20-point scorers in a loss to the Seminoles. Tigers Net 15 Three-Point Goals at Maryland Three-point shooting had been a problem for Clemson much of the season, but that was not the case when Clemson played its final game ever in Cole Fieldhouse on Jan. 20. The Tigers tied a school record with 15 three-point goals in the 99-90 loss to Maryland. Clemson converted 15-28 from long range, a .565 mark. Clemson entered the game having made just 5.3 three-point goals per game and had connected at a .303 clip, worst in the ACC. Clemson had made just 29 percent on the opponent's home court. Clemson made 11 of 16 in the first half, a school record for made three-point goals in a half. The Tigers missed their last four three-point attempts when they were forcing threes in the final minute. Tony Stockman made 6-13 threes in the game, Edward Scott hit 5-8 and Jamar McKnight made 3-4 in the contest. Even Tomas Nagys made his first three-point goal of the year. Larry Shyatt became head coach. It was the highest figure since Clemson made15 against Evansville in the 1993 Rainbow Classic. The Tigers also made 15 at Virginia in 1982-83, the year the ACC used a 17-9 three-point goal line. Clemson has now made 15 three-point goals in a game three times and lost all three. Tiger Stats Outstanding Against N.C. State and Maryland Here are some facts and figures about Clemson in its two games last week, losses to N.C. State (80-79) and at 3rd ranked Maryland (99-90). * Clemson had five players score in double figures in both games, yet lost both contests. Clemson had not lost a game under Larry Shyatt when it had five players in double figures, now has lost consecutive games in that situation. * Clemson was +22 in terms of rebound margin last week. Clemson out-rebounded N.C. State by 12 on Jan. 15, then out-rebounded the Terps by 10 on Sunday night. Clemson also has had more offensive rebounds than the opposition, 26-23. * Clemson has shot 52 percent from the field over the last two games, including 20-40 on three-point attempts. * Five different players have averaged at least 11 points a game over the last two contests, including a 20-point average for Tony Stockman and an 18.5 average for Jamar McKnight. * Edward Scott has a 21/8 assist/turnover ratio over the last two contests. * The Bruise Brothers, Ray Henderson and Chris Hobbs, have shot 19-31 from the field over the last two games combined, .613. The duo has combined for 50 points and 40 rebounds in the last two games combined. So, where has the problem been? Clemson has committed 33 turnovers and forced just 18 over the last two games combined. A 63 percent free throw percentage also has not helped. While Clemson has hit 20-40 three-point goals for 50 percent, the opposition is now far behind, hitting .456 from long range. Clemson 2-5 to Open ACC Schedule Clemson has opened the ACC season with a 2-4 record. The Tigers are 2-4 since the calendar turned to 2002. Getting off to a good start in ACC play has not been a characteristic of Clemson teams over the years. In fact, each of the last three Clemson teams have been just 1-7 through the first half of the ACC schedule. This team has already bettered that with two wins. A win for the Tigers against North Carolina would give Clemson three wins in the first half of the ACC schedule for the first time since 1997-98, the last time Clemson went to the NCAA Tournament. Clemson has had a winning record in the first half of the ACC schedule just once in the last 11 years. That was in 1996-97 when Clemson was 6-2 for the first half. That Clemson team went on to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and a #8 final ranking in USA Today. In the previous 48 years of the ACC, Clemson has had a winning record at the halfway point of the league schedule just eight times. Clemson has had just one other season (1995-96) in which it was break even. Ford Has Been top Clemson Freshman Clemson reserve forward Sharrod Ford has been among Clemson's most productive players this season. He has played 12.2 minutes per game, but still ranks in the top 12 in the ACC in blocked shots. He has 21 in the first 20 games in just 12.2 minutes per contest. Ford has shot almost 58 percent from the field and has pulled in 3.2 rebounds and scored 4.1 points per outing. He had 11 points at Wake Forest on Jan. 12 for his third double figure scoring game of the season, his first in ACC play. Earlier this year he made 4-4 from the field and had 10 points and four rebounds in a win at Penn State. He also had 10 points in the win at Hartford. Unlike most freshman, Ford plays better on the road than at home. As noted above, all three of his double-figure scoring games have taken place on the road. He averages 6.2 points a game on the road and just 2.9 at home this year. Ford attended Gwynn Park High School in Maryland where he played for Steve Matthews. He averaged 15.8 points, 12 rebounds and 6.6 blocked shots per game. That blocked shot figure seemed high, but based on what he has done on a per minute basis this year, it is certainly realistic. Ford came to Clemson from Hargrave Military in Virginia where he helped that team to a 26-1 record last year by averaging a double-double. Scott Second in Nation in Assists Clemson guard Edward Scott was second in the nation in assists through games of Jan. 21. A new ranking is issued every Tuesday afternoon. Scott had a 7.8 average through games of Jan. 21, second only to Texas guard T.J. Ford. Scott had 13 assists on Jan. 15 against N.C. State and eight against Maryland. Grayson Marshall averaged 7.71 per game in 1985-86 and that is the record for the course of an entire season. Grayson Marshall is the only Clemson player to rank in the top 25 in the nation in assists over the course of a season. Marshall was 20th as a freshman, 13th as a sophomore and 16th as a junior (1984-85 through 1986-87). Scott leads the ACC in assists per game, just ahead of Steve Blake of Maryland. Delvon Arrington of Florida State is fourth, giving the ACC three of the top four assist makers in the country. No Clemson player has ever led the ACC in assists over the course of the season. Scott Moves to Seventh on Clemson Assist List Clemson junior guard Edward Scott had 13 assists against N.C. State on Jan. 15 and jumped three spots on Clemson's all-time assist list. He now has 352 for his career, good enough for seventh place. He needs just three against North Carolina to move into sixth place ahead of Chris Whitney. Scott is also now fourth in Clemson history in assists on a per game basis. His performance against State allowed him to move ahead of Terrell McIntyre on a per game basis. Scott has six games of double figures in assists and eight with nine or more this year. That includes the win at Georgia Tech when he had 11 assists to go with 12 points. He had 10 points and 13 assists against State for a double-double. It was his fifth double-double of the season. In his first two years he never had more than seven assists in a single game. He had a career-high 14 assists against Charleston Southern on Dec. 22, the most assists by a Tiger since Chris Whitney had 14 against Liberty on Dec. 5, 1992. Scott has been improved in a number of areas this year, including scoring. He has averaged 10.1 points a game this year and has had three 20-point scoring nights, the first three of his career. He recently netted 20 points, including a career-high five three-point goals, in a loss at #3 Maryland. That was his high point game in an ACC contest as a Clemson player. Scott had 25 points on 8-12 shooting in the win over La Salle in The Virgin Islands in the second game of the year, and had 21 points and 11 assists in a victory over Elon. That was the first time since the 1998-99 season that any Clemson player had 20 points and double figures in assists in the same game. He had 17 against Virginia on Jan. 8, his career high against an ACC opponent. Scott averages 7.8 points per game over his career, but has the 10.1 average this year. He has averaged 4.71 assists per game for his career, but stands at 7.8 assists per game this year. That is ahead of Grayson Marshall's record pace. And, Scott's rebound average of 4.9 this year is ahead of his career 3.8 figure. In fact, his 4.9 rebounds per game is the best for a Clemson point guard since Doug Hoffman had a 6.0 average as the point guard in 1957-58. Scott had 10 rebounds in the loss to Yale, his career high. He had an unusual double-double in that game with 10 rebounds and 11 assists, but just one point. Six times this year Scott has had at least six rebounds, assists and points in the same game, including the Maryland game of Jan. 20 when he had 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Clemson Looks to Reach Last Year's win Total Clemson will be looking to equal its victory total of all of last year with a triumph over North Carolina. Clemson has an 11-9 record and the Tigers won just 12 games all of last season. Clemson did not win its 12th game last year until the ACC Tournament, a victory over Florida State. Clemson has already equaled its regular season ACC victory total from last year. Clemson had two conference wins in the regular season last year, then won two of its first three this season. Clemson Had Avoided Consecutive Losses Clemson had done a good job of making comebacks from losses this year prior to the loss against N.C. State. Clemson is 5-2 this season coming off a loss. Clemson enters the Florida State game off three consecutive losses, the first time this year that has happened. Clemson had not suffered consecutive losses 17 games into this season. This was the longest Clemson had gone without suffering consecutive losses within a season since 1996-97 when Clemson opened 16-1 and did not suffer consecutive losses until games 17 and 18. Clemson suffered losses in games 17 and 18 this year. This is just the fourth season in the last 25 years that Clemson has gone 17 games into the season without suffering consecutive losses. The other years are the aforementioned 1996-97, 1989-90 when the Tigers opened 15-3, and 1986-87 when Clemson opened with a record 17-0. Only three Clemson teams in history that have played at least 10 games in a season have gone an entire season without suffering back-to-back losses. All three of those seasons came in the 1930s (1937-38, 1935-36, 1934-35).
Clemson's 15 three-point goals were the most by the Tigers since
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