Tigers Escape With a Win Over SC State |
CLEMSON -- Clemson escaped with a 77-74 win over South Carolina State and
Clemson head coach Oliver Purnell wasn’t in the mood to take any chances. He laughed when the post-game press conference finished and jumped up from his seat. “Get me outta here before they change the score,” he said, stepping quickly out of the room. The score didn’t change, but Purnell knew his team did well to escape. “I did not feel like we played really, really well,” he said. “But it’s always a positive when you win.” Turnovers didn’t do the Tigers in like they had in so many games this season. “Offense was not the problem,” said Purnell. “We didn’t make stops, we didn’t make stands. We could not make a series of defensive stops at critical times.” Clemson committed just 15 turnovers, the second lowest total of the season for the Tigers. But three came during a crucial stretch early in the second half. Clemson (5-4) led 38-36 at the half and put together a 6-2 start of the second half. However, after a timeout by S.C. State, Clemson turned the ball over on three straight possessions and allowed the Bulldogs (3-3) to take a 47-44 lead on a 3-pointer by Shawn Wiggins from the top of the key. The two teams traded leads through most of the second half from that point. It took a 10-footer from the baseline by Shawan Robinson with 22 seconds left and then two free throws by Olu Babalola to put the game away. Robinson lost S.C. State defender Brandon Trapp, who slipped, and hit his shot from the baseline to give Clemson a 75-72 lead. S.C. State came back downcourt looking for a 3-pointer, but settled for a layup by Brian Mason with 7.7 seconds left. Babalola was fouled and hit both free throws with 6.5 seconds left to give Clemson a 77-74 lead. S.C. State’s Thurman Zimmerman brought the ball in and passed to Demeco Heath, who attempted a 3-pointer near the scorer’s table from about 30 feet away that fell short. “We were real confident coming in,” said Zimmerman, who played most of the second half with a swollen right eye after he was hit by Babalola when both were going for a loose ball. “Our coach told us, I don’t know how many years ago, that we beat them by three points. That plus we knew we matched up well gave us confidence.” S.C. State beat Clemson in 1999 by three. It took a good game by Chris Hobbs to turn back the Bulldogs this time. S.C. State played a matchup zone defense not only to encourage Clemson to shoot from the outside, but also in an attempt to minimize Hobbs’ impact, said Bulldogs coach Ben Betts. “In the end we didn’t have the stops defensively that we needed to,” he said. Hobbs scored 18, including a layup with 4:36 left that stopped a 7-0 run by S.C. State and tied the game 65-65. “It feels like a loss pretty much, the way we played,” said Hobbs. “We’re supposed to be ready no matter what. No matter how long we’ve been playing, no matter how long we’ve been laid off. We’ve got to be ready to play. As soon as we got a little lead, we let up.” Zimmerman led S.C. State with 19 points and ten rebounds. Robinson added 16 for Clemson while Sharrod Ford led Clemson with nine rebounds. Clemson faces Radford at 7 p.m. on Monday night, and Purnell doesn’t think he’ll escape that game with the same kind of play. “They can us beat if we’re not on top of our game and if we don’t defend better,” he said.
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