On Tuesday night, the Clemson Tigers defeated the Pittsburgh Panthers by a score of 69-62 at Littlejohn Coliseum to sweep the in-conference series.
Despite trailing the entire first half, Clemson rallied through 12 lead changes in the second, with guard Chase Hunter sinking a stepback 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining to put the nail in the coffin and give the Tigers (20-8, 10-7 ACC) their tenth win of the season in conference play.
A play later, forward Jack Clark would grab a missed free throw rebound from the Panthers’ Carlton Carrington to gain possession back. Next, he threw it across the court to find forward Ian Schieffelin, who put in an emphatic dunk to put the Littlejohn crowd into celebration to seal the win for good.
Pittsburgh gained an early lead through shooting the lights out and heads-up defense. The Panthers (18-10, 9-8 ACC) would sink five out of their first six attempts to lead by as much as ten points in the first half. The Tigers were able to pull back within four at the break.
Four starters reached double digits on Tuesday night, using a 46.7% 3-point percentage to propel the team back into the game in the second half.
After sinking 5-of-6 early threes, the Tigers held the Panthers to just 2-for-19 for the rest of the contest, which helped Clemson get back into the game and steal the lead, and eventually the win.
Head coach Brad Brownell would get his team’s first lead of the game with 17:59 remaining in the contest, when Schieffelin earned an and-1 bucket of Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson to complete a 10-4 run to open the half. The Tigers would then use their physicality to pull away for the victory.
Brownell would speak on the effort to close out the game against a “tournament team” like Pittsburgh, who still remain on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble.
“This is a tournament team, in my opinion,” Brownell said to the media after the contest.”Those guys can easily get into the tournament, so competing against teams like this should give us confidence and great experiences.”
Joe Girard III, Hunter and Schieffelin would all score a team-high 15 points. Schieffelin would also pick up 12 rebounds, securing his eighth double-double of the season.
Center PJ Hall would etch 12 points and ten rebounds, earning a double-double of his own, his seventh of the year.
After sharing a tie with many teams going into last week, the Tigers are in the sole position of fifth place in the ACC following the win. With a matchup coming up against fourth-seeded Wake Forest fast approaching, Clemson will fight for the double-bye once again this season, earning it just a season ago.
The win not only marks Clemson’s 12th straight win over the Panthers but the second season in a row with 20 wins for the Tigers. With an emphatic finish to secure the victory, the team will hope to carry this momentum into not only the ACC Tournament but the NCAA Tournament, earning another high quality to boost their resume.
“To win 20 games is hard to do,” Brownell said after the win. ‘The credit goes to my staff and players. Players win these games with big-time plays. I think it speaks to consistency.”
Clemson will be back in action on Saturday night, when the team travels to South Bend, Indiana, to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish with three games remaining in the regular season.
