Clemson basketball suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, falling to Memphis 79-77 in a battle that went down to the wire. Brad Brownell’s squad saw a first half lead slip away in the narrow defeat.
The number 13 ranked Tigers (9-1) had won its first nine games, and in the battle of Tigers, Memphis (8-2) was able to come out on top.
Senior P.J. Hall, who scored 10 points in the second half, was able to put up a contested three pointer with 9.8 seconds to play with Clemson trailing 79-76, but the shot went awry and sealed the Tigers’ fate. It was a battle right from the jump, and Clemson raced out to an early lead and took a 39-32 advantage into halftime. Memphis, however, battled back in the final 20 minutes.
The Memphis Tigers forced eight turnovers in the second half, and those lost possessions proved costly. Bench play was a factor as well. The Memphis bench outscored Clemson’s reserves by a sizable 25-5 margin. Despite four Clemson starters scoring in double figures, that proved to be a tipping point.
P.J. Hall scored 21 to lead Clemson, and Chauncey Wiggins dropped in a career-high 19. Chase Hunter scored 13, and Ian Schieffelin recorded a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds. Clemson shot 49 percent from the floor, compared to Memphis’ 43 percent.
David Jones led all scorers with 22 for Memphis.
Clemson, who ranked number one nationally in RPI, will look to start a new winning streak next Friday as the Tigers return home and welcome Queens to Littlejohn Coliseum for a 6 p.m. tipoff. That game will be televised on the ACC Network.
