Young's 3-pointer with 11.5 seconds remaining lifts Tigers over Pack in OT |
CLEMSON –
Brad Brownell
They also earned it. Smith hit two free throws at the end of regulation that forced overtime and Young hit two 3-pointers late in overtime – the last one with 11.5 seconds remaining - to lift the Tigers to a hard-fought 72-69 overtime victory over North Carolina St. Saturday afternoon at Littlejohn Coliseum. This was the type of game the Tigers lost earlier in the season, but found a way to win when the program needed a win the most – the victory lifted the Tigers to 15-13 overall and 7-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, good for sixth in the league standings, a half-game behind fifth place Miami. “This was certainly a great win for our players and I couldn’t be happier for Andre (Young) and Tanner (Smith),” Brownell said after the game. “For those guys to make those plays - Tanner in regulation to draw those fouls and make the free throws and Andre to get that big three - those guys deserve that; they’ve given a lot to our team. This was a good confidence building win against a good team. N.C. State is hard to stop and hard to guard. Our guys had to play exceptionally well to win.” State’s C.J. Leslie hit two free throws with 40 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Wolfpack a 62-60 lead.
Milton Jennings Richard Howell fouled Tanner Smith with five seconds remaining, and Smith’s first one bounced off the back iron and hung on the front of the rim before falling through. His second one was all net, and State missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer and the teams headed into overtime. Lorenzo Brown hit three inside shots to help the Pack build a 69-66 lead with 2:29 remaining in the extra period, and Williams could have iced the game with 1:18 left, but his open look at a 3-pointer bounced in and out of the basket. Young made Williams and the Pack pay. Young came into the game as the conference’s 4th-best 3-point shooter, but didn’t have a trey until he hit one from straightaway with 1:13 remaining that tied the game at 69-69. Brown, who came into the game shooting 76 percent from the free throw line, was fouled on the ensuing possession – with 44 seconds remaining – and the game in the balance. He missed both foul shots, however, and the Tigers pushed the ball up the court after Booker’s rebound. Clemson called a final timeout with 20 seconds left on the game clock, and 11 on the shot clock, to set up a play for Young that Brownell called “screening the screener.” Smith dribbled to the left of the key and hit Young who was floating to the left wing, and his 3-pointer went in as the crowd exploded. Leslie then missed a 3-pointer with six seconds remaining, and the Tigers were able to hold on for the win. “It felt good when it left my hand, but you never know,” Young, who scored 12 points, said of his shot. “I had been struggling in the game up until those last two shots, and fortunately that one went in. This was a big win for us. We have been playing well lately and we’ve picked up some wins. Now we need to keep it going.” “That last shot, there was no thought to it,” Brownell said. “Sometimes in that situation you can be your own worst enemy especially if you’re a good kid with a conscience like Andre is and there’s only six seconds left on the shot clock you just have to shoot it and there’s really no thought to it. He nailed it.” Pack head coach Mark Gottfried said he expected Clemson’s seniors to make plays with the game on the line. “I thought we had done a pretty good on them throughout the game of making it hard on them,” Gottfried said. “He’s {Young} a senior and he’s going to score some points. He’s a good player. You got to give those guys credit. It’s like Tanner Smith, who’s a senior, college career winding down, he’s been through the wars and steps to the line and hits those two big free throws. With a guy like that it’s almost like there’s no doubt that he is going to make them and that’s what seniors should do. I thought they had some guys step up and make some big plays when they needed them.” Jennings led the Tigers with 17 points before fouling out in overtime. Smith added 15 while Booker had nine points and 10 rebounds. C.J. Williams had 16 points for North Carolina State. The first half was a back-and-forth affair, with the lead changing hands seven times. N.C. State had its largest lead at four – 6-2 – just three minutes into the game, but the Tigers shrugged off a slow start to get back into it. The Tigers took their first lead at 10-8 on a
Devin Booker Tanner Smith started the run with a pair of free throws, and
K.J. McDaniels Jennings then capped off an 11-point half by nailing a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining and the Tigers led 34-30 at the break. Clemson celebrated its 100 years of basketball at halftime with several of the program's greatest players back to take the court to the cheers of those at Littlejohn. Those returning included former NBA standout Elden Campbell, the Tigers all-time scoring leader, and current Washington Wizards starter
Trevor Booker 
Brad Brownell
Head Coach
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said
Tanner Smith
Tanner Smith
Sr. Guard
#5 6-5, 210
Alpharetta, GA
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and
Andre Young
Andre Young
Sr. Guard
#11 5-9, 175
Albany, GA
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“deserved” Saturday’s win.
Milton Jennings
Jr. Forward
#24 6-9, 225
Summerville, SC
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missed a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining, and the Tigers fouled C.J. Williams with 17 seconds remaining, but he missed the front end of the 1-and-1 to give the Tigers new life. 
Devin Booker
Jr. Forward
#31 6-8, 245
Whitmire, SC
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jumper , but the lead changed hands five more times and the Tigers trailed 26-25 with just over three minutes remaining in the half when the Tigers made a final push. 
K.J. McDaniels
Fr. Guard
#32 6-5, 190
Birmingham, AL
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brought the Littlejohn crowd to its feet with a thunderous dunk off of an Andre Young miss that put the Tigers up 29-26. Booker added two free throws to give Clemson its biggest lead of the half at 31-26 with 2:26 remaining, but the Pack closed to within 31-30 on a Lorenzo Brown layup with just over a minute left. 
Trevor Booker
Forward
#35 6-7, 240
Whitmire, SC
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.
VISITORS: NC State 18-11, 7-7
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Howell, Richard..... f 3-7 0-0 1-2 5 4 9 3 7 1 1 0 2 38
05 Leslie, C.J......... f 7-15 0-2 4-8 1 7 8 4 18 2 3 0 0 38
15 Wood, Scott......... f 1-6 1-5 0-0 0 1 1 2 3 4 3 1 0 40-
02 Brown, Lorenzo...... g 8-14 2-5 0-2 0 7 7 3 18 6 5 0 2 39
21 Williams, C.J....... g 8-13 0-2 0-1 4 3 7 3 16 2 0 0 0 43
00 Painter, DeShawn.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 2 0 1 1 0 15
03 Johnson, Alex....... 2-3 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 5 1 0 0 2 12
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 30-60 4-16 5-13 13 24 37 20 69 16 13 2 6 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-26 53.8% 2nd Half: 13-28 46.4% OT: 3-6 50.0% Game: 50.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% OT: 0-2 0.0% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 0-0 0.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% OT: 1-4 25.0% Game: 38.5% 3
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HOME TEAM: Clemson 15-13, 7-7
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
21 Narcisse, Bryan..... f 0-2 0-2 0-0 2 0 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 22
24 Jennings, Milton.... f 7-14 1-3 2-2 2 1 3 5 17 0 0 1 0 27
31 Booker, Devin....... f 3-9 0-0 3-5 2 8 10 3 9 4 2 1 2 40
05 Smith, Tanner....... g 3-8 1-4 8-9 0 4 4 1 15 5 3 0 1 43
11 Young, Andre........ g 5-11 2-7 0-0 0 1 1 1 12 3 2 0 3 37
01 Sapp, T.J........... 2-5 2-4 1-2 1 2 3 0 7 0 0 0 2 23
04 Hall, Rod........... 1-1 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 4 0 1 0 0 8
10 Baciu, Catalin...... 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 4 1 1 0 1 13
22 Sullivan, Bernard... 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 6
32 McDaniels, K.J...... 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 2 1 1 0 0 6
TEAM................ 2 4 6 1
Totals.............. 25-57 6-20 16-21 10 22 32 14 72 16 12 2 9 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-29 44.8% 2nd Half: 9-23 39.1% OT: 3-5 60.0% Game: 43.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 2-8 25.0% OT: 2-3 66.7% Game: 30.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-7 85.7% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% OT: 2-3 66.7% Game: 76.2% 3
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Officials: Bryan Kersey, Mike Eades, Sean Hull
Technical fouls: NC State-None. Clemson-None.
Attendance: 10000
Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
NC State...................... 30 32 7 - 69
Clemson....................... 34 28 10 - 72
Points in the paint-ST 36,CU 28. Points off turnovers-ST 7,CU 12.
2nd chance points-ST 17,CU 14. Fast break points-ST 8,CU 0.
Bench points-ST 7,CU 19. Score tied-16 times. Lead changed-15 times.
Last FG-ST OT-02:28, CU OT-00:15.
Largest lead-ST by 4 1st-17:00, CU by 8 2nd-10:11.
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