PJ Hall Nets 20 Points in 70-65 Clemson Road Victory at NC State
Sophomore PJ Hall, one of the most improved players in the country, led the Tigers to victory on Saturday.
RALEIGH, N.C. — PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) finished with a career-best 10 made field goals in his fourth 20-point effort of the season to lead Clemson University men’s basketball to victory on the road at NC State on Saturday. It was also Hall’s 14th consecutive double-digit scoring game this season.
The victory marked the first in Raleigh for the Tigers since the 2014-15 season. Clemson won 68-57.
The Tigers (10-5, 2-2 ACC) got 20 points, five rebounds and a career-high four blocks from Hall, while Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J./The Patrick School) scored 16 points and added in five rebounds, three steals and two assists.
The last Tiger to swat four shots in a game was Aamir Simms who finished with four at Miami in a 66-65 win on Jan. 2, 2021.
Hunter Tyson (Monroe, N.C./Piedmont) finished with six points, seven rebounds and two assists.
David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio/First Love Christian Academy) garnered his fourth double-digit rebounding game with 11 boards. Collins added five points, two assists and three steals. Nick Honor (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland) knocked down four-straight free throws in the final eight seconds to help seal the victory. He finished with eight points and two assists.
The Wolfpack (8-8, 1-4 ACC) got off to a lightning-fast start with three-straight triples for a 9-0 advantage, but the Tigers quickly responded behind an 18-4 run that gave them an eight-point lead. The Tigers took a 30-28 lead into halftime.
Both teams would trade leads for most of the first half of the second stanza but with score knotted at 49-49, Clemson opened up a four-point lead behind back-to-back Hall dunks. A 7-0 run opened up a nine-point lead at 62-53 and the Tigers were able to execute down the stretch to seal the win.
The Tigers led points in the paint by a resounding 24 points (44-20). Clemson got lots of clutch play from its bench throughout the game, including seven points on 3-for-3 shooting from Chase Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) including lockdown defense. Naz Bohannon (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) added five points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal to further prove his worthy status as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
Clemson will remain on the road to begin the week when it travels north to Notre Dame for a 7 p.m. tip on Wednesday, Jan. 12. The game will air on RSN.
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