CLEMSON, S.C. —The good news. Clemson is still in first place in the ACC.
The bad news. The 20th-ranked Tigers blew an opportunity to extend their lead in the league standings. After No. 6 Virginia fell at Virginia Tech earlier in the afternoon, Clemson failed to capitalize, as No. 23 Miami knocked off the Tigers 78-74 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson leads Pitt and Virginia by a half-game in the standings.
“We don’t really talk about it a lot,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said about the pressure of being in first place. “I mean, we obviously mentioned it, but no. We played okay today. I don’t think we played great defensively. Our defense let us down, but if there had been pressure you wouldn’t have seen us make ten threes and make eight of nine free throws and have seventeen assists. It would show up more in bad offensive basketball. We just had trouble guarding a very good offensive team today.”
The Hurricanes (18-5, 9-4 ACC) led by as many 12 points in the second half, 56-44, but the Tigers rallied three times to make it a one-possession game, but each time Miami was able to hold its lead.
The last came in the final minute. After Clemson forced a bad shot from Jordan Miller with one-minute to play, the Hurricanes’ Norchad Omier grabbed their ninth offensive rebound. He was later fouled and made a free throw to keep the Tigers at a safe distance.
Miami finished with a 9-2 advantage on the offensive glass.
“They fought harder than us. You never want that to happen,” Clemson forward Hunter Tyson said. “You never want to lose the rebounding battle and we did, so we need to be better.”
Clemson (18-6, 10-3 ACC) cut the lead to two points, 76-74, with 0.9 seconds remaining on an Alex Hemenway three-pointer.
Miami opened the second half making 7-of-10 shots from the field, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc. The hot shooting aloud the Hurricanes to build its 12-point lead, 56-44, with 11:10 to go.
The game was tied, 35-35, at halftime. Both teams exchanged leads throughout the half.
Clemson led by as many as six points, 10-4, in the opening 20 minutes, while the Hurricanes owned a five-point, 30-25, at one point.
The Tigers went on a 10-1 run late in the half to take a 35-31 advantage, but Miami scored the last four points on the half to even things up. Clemson did not score in the last 2:43 of the half.
Miami was led by Nijel Pack’s 20 points. He was 6-for-14 from the field. He also had four rebounds and three assists. All five of the Hurricanes’ starters scored at least 10 points.
“I thought we played reasonably well tonight. Both teams executed offensively pretty well,” Brownell said. “The game defensively, I didn’t think we did enough good things to get enough stops to win. They were probably just a little too comfortable throughout.”
Stat of the game: Miami ended Clemson’s 15-game home win streak.
Injury update: Guard Brevin Galloway returned to action after missing the last two games with a groin injury. He finished the afternoon with 15 points.
Player of the Game: Clemson was led by PJ Hall’s 19 points. He scored 17 of those points in the second half. He was 7-of-9 from the field in the last 20 minutes.
Key Moment: After Clemson forced a bad shot from Jordan Miller with one-minute to play, the Hurricanes’ Norchad Omier grabbed their ninth offensive rebound. He was later fouled and made a free throw to keep the Tigers at a safe distance.
Up next: Clemson will take the next week off before heading to North Carolina on Feb. 11 for a 2 p.m. tip.
photo by Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY Sports
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