Clemson 92, North Dakota 77. That’s the result, and on a Monday night at Littlejohn Coliseum, it’s the only number most Tigers fans will remember. Clemson mens basketball improved to 3-0 with its third straight win, and the Tigers did it by out-shooting North Dakota in the category that usually decides games like this one.
The game was closer than the final margin. North Dakota led 40-38 at halftime, and the teams swapped the lead 10 times over 40 minutes. Clemson shot 12-of-20 from the floor and 6-of-12 from three in the first half, enough to stay even with a Fighting Hawks team that had made 16 of 33 shots. Clemson didn’t pull away until the second half, when it outscored North Dakota 54-37 and built its largest lead of the night, 16 points.
North Dakota is now 1-2. The Fighting Hawks opened the season with a 85-50 loss at Minnesota, then beat Winthrop 93-90 before falling to Clemson. On Monday they stayed within striking distance for most of the game, and they led at halftime.
Chase Thompson was the easiest player to watch. He finished with 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting, and all three of his three-point attempts went in. He also grabbed five rebounds, two of them on the offensive glass. Liutauras Lelevicius matched him with 21 points of his own. He made 9 of 9 free throws and pulled down eight rebounds, and he’s the kind of player who can single-handedly flip a close game without taking many bad shots.
Here’s the thing about this box score, though. Clemson scored 42 points in the paint and shot 66 percent from the floor, yet it still coughed up the ball 12 times. North Dakota turned those turnovers into 18 points, and the Fighting Hawks finished with 10 steals. Dylan Faulkner led the Tigers with eight assists but also had four turnovers. That’s the number that should bother Clemson’s coaches more than anything else, even in a win.
North Dakota didn’t go quietly. Samuel Hincapie scored a team-high 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, and Luke Winkel added 16. Zach Kraft hit four of eight from three and had three steals. The Fighting Hawks made 13 threes on 27 attempts, which is a respectable 48 percent, and they won the offensive glass 10 to 8. Those second chances kept them within striking distance for most of the first half.
Clemson’s bench did its part too. Dallas Thomas came off the bench to score nine points, going 2-of-4 from deep and pulling down five rebounds. David Fuchs added nine more on a perfect 3-of-3 from the field. Both sides got 18 bench points, so the difference came from the starters and from the free-throw line. Clemson made 21 of 26 free throws, while North Dakota made 8 of 13.
The Tigers also did the little things that don’t always show up in a headline. They out-rebounded North Dakota 32-22, and 24 of those boards came on the defensive end. Clemson had 20 assists on 31 made field goals, which means most of its baskets were set up by a teammate. Clemson also held North Dakota to 45 percent from the floor, and it blocked four shots to the Fighting Hawks’ one.
The first two games set up Monday’s performance. Clemson opened the season with an 85-72 win over Stetson on Nov. 2, then followed with an 82-73 win over American on Nov. 6. The margins were 13 points against Stetson, 9 against American and 15 against North Dakota, so Monday was the biggest win of the three.
Clemson fans should feel good about the 3-0 start, and they should also be honest about what they saw. The Tigers scored when they needed to, and they got their stars to the line. But a team that wants to win a tougher game on the road will need to protect the ball better than it did Monday.
The next chance comes Friday, Nov. 13, when Georgetown visits Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. ET on ESPNU.
