Down Goes #3 North Carolina
Chapel Hill, N.C. - The Clemson Tigers were greeted by the Tar Heels of North Carolina on Tuesday night. This was a revenge spot for the Tigers after they lost the first matchup of the season at Littlejohn in a low-scoring game, 65-55. Historically, UNC in the game after they played Duke, are 67-16 overall. According to that stat, they play very well regardless of who their next opponent is. Clemson had lost its first 59 games in Chapel Hill before breaking through in 2020 for an overtime win. If Clemson was going to pull off the upset again, they needed to be firing on all cylinders and they did just that pulling off the upset, 80-76.
Clemson came out as if their hair was on fire. Within the first four minutes of the game, the Tigers had jumped out to a 17-4 lead. Everyone was hitting their shots to begin the game and UNC seemed like they had no idea what had hit them. RJ Davis couldn’t get anything going in the first half. The Tigers kept that margin at double figures for much of the first half, pushing their biggest lead at 41-25. It was a sight of confidence the Tigers have lacked in their past few games, especially after a one-point loss to Virginia at home in their most recent game.
Clemson shot one for 18 (5.5%) from the three-point line in that last game, their worst shooting performance of the season by far. Joe Girard III and company are due for some positive progression from downtown and show out tonight. As a team, the Tigers shot 11-31 (35.5%) from three-point range, a 30% increase from the first matchup. Of the 11 three-pointers made, Joe had five of them and PJ Hall scored four of the other six. This was by far the biggest difference from the first matchup in all categories and one of the biggest factors in this game for Clemson to pull out the win on the road.
This was a high-scoring thriller of a match. Watching the frontcourt of both teams, highlighted by PJ Hall and Armando Bacot kept everyone on their toes. There’s an indescribable feeling watching two All-Americans go at each other in an extremely competitive game. Both athletes put on a show tonight, each filled up the box score as Hall narrowly out-scored Bacot, 25 to 24 respectively. Ian Schieffelin’s play can not go unnoticed. He is the ultimate glue guy, putting up a double-double in the game, he is the only player in the ACC averaging nine and a half points, nine and a half rebounds, and two assists per game.
North Carolina made a push in the second half, gradually climbing back into the game. They had multiple opportunities to tie or grab the lead as they were repeatedly getting within one and two possessions. With less than five minutes left in the second half, Harrison Ingram came through with a contested corner three-pointer to tie the game at 70, but it was simply not enough. The Tar Heels never could overtake the Tigers even with the works of Armando Bacot’s 24 points and 13 rebounds. RJ Davis had an inspiring second half as well, finishing with 22 points.
This is a huge momentum builder for the Tigers as they are trying to improve their footing for the NCAA tournament as well as the ACC tournament. Not having a top reserve in, Seth Trimble, did not do any favors toward North Carolina as they only mustered 12 bench points on the night. The Tigers are looking to continue this momentum as they travel to Syracuse, Joe Girard III’s initial school, on Saturday. North Carolina is looking to rebound as they head down to Miami (FL) on Saturday as well.
