Clemson caught fire from three-point range in the first half, rode an 18-point halftime cushion, and held off Wake Forest 71-62 in the second round of the ACC Tournament on Tuesday night.
The Tigers (23-9, 12-6 ACC) were rolling in the opening 20 minutes, and the Demon Deacons had no answer. The defense was just as good. Seven steals, 5 blocks, and a turnover margin that was borderline absurd. Clemson committed just 4 turnovers the entire game. Wake Forest had 12. The Tigers turned those giveaways into 20 points while the Demon Deacons managed only 4 off Clemson’s mistakes. Add in 17 offensive rebounds that produced 7 second-chance points, 22 points in the paint, and the first half wasn’t close. Tigers went into the break up 41-23 and looking like a team nobody in this bracket wants to see.
But there’s a catch. And it’s one worth paying attention too.
Wake Forest outscored Clemson 39-30 in the second half, chipping away at a lead that once sat at 20. Juke Harris scored a game-high 22 points, Nate Calmese poured in 20 off the bench, and the two of them nearly dragged the Demon Deacons back into it. Outside of those two and Tre’Von Spillers (15 points, 12 rebounds), nobody else on Wake Forest scored more than 3 points. But Harris and Calmese were enough to make the final 10 minutes uncomfortable. Still, Clemson held the lead for 35 minutes and 41 seconds of game time. The game was never really in doubt.
Here’s the real story, though. Every single Clemson player who checked into this game scored. All 10. RJ Godfrey led with 11 points and 8 rebounds. Chase Thompson had 9 off the bench. Dillon Hunter, Butta Johnson, Nick Davidson, and Ace Buckner all finished with 8. Dallas Thomas knocked in a pair of threes for 6 points in 10 minutes. Jestin Porter had 5. Jake Wahlin had 3. Even Carter Welling, who went down with an injury late in the first half, put up 5 points with 4 rebounds and 2 blocks in 12 minutes before leaving the floor.
Tiger fans have seen this before. The Tigers scored on 54% of their possessions and averaged 1.25 points per possession. When one or two guys try to do it alone, those numbers don’t happen. Tuesday was the good version.
The Welling injury is worth watching. Same guy who had 13 points with 2 blocks and 2 steals in the win over Georgia Tech. His ability to stretch the floor and protect the rim gives Clemson a different look whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. Losing him, even temporarily, matters.
But this roster is deep enough to absorb it. Clemson’s bench outscored Wake Forest’s reserves 34-20. Five guys off the bench scored. In a tournament where you might play three games in three days, that kind of depth is not just helpful. It’s necessary. Legs get tired. Foul trouble happens. When you can go 10 deep and everybody contributes, you’ve got a real advantage over teams relying on six or seven guys to get through the week.
The concern is the second half. Outscoring an opponent by 18 before the break and then losing the final 20 minutes by 9 is fine against Wake Forest. It will not be fine against North Carolina in round three. The last time these two teams played, last Tuesday in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels won 67-63. Clemson’s guard play was a big reason that game got away from them. Dillon Hunter shot 1-for-9. Ace Buckner went 2-for-7 with 3 turnovers. Jestin Porter was 2-for-5 with zero assists. That’s 5-for-21 combined from those three.
If the guards can shoot the way they did in the first half Tuesday vs Wake Forest and protect the ball the way they did all night, it’s a different matchup. The defense has to stay locked in. The ball has to keep moving. And even without Welling, the depth has to show up again. Ten guys scored Tuesday. When this team shares the ball and stays locked in defensively, they’re hard to beat. That’s the blueprint.
Clemson will face North Carolina Friday night at 9:30 p.m. in the ACC Tournament.
