CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson University men’s basketball earned its first ACC win of the year on Friday night after a dominant 51-24 second half against Wake Forest. Clemson rolled 77-57.
The Tigers (7-2, 1-0) were led by PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) who finished with 21 points and eight rebounds. Hunter Tyson (Monroe, N.C./Piedmont) tallied his third double-double of the season, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Clemson totaled five double-digit scorers for the second time this season, including Brevin Galloway (Anderson, S.C./Seneca) with 15, Alex Hemenway (Newburgh, Indiana/Castle) with 14 and Chase Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) totaled 11.
Clemson finished 24-for-25 (96.0 percent) from the foul line – setting a new program record for a single game free throw percentage with a minimum of 20 attempts.
The Clemson offense stumbled out of the gate in the first half shooting just 34.8 percent from the field and 10.0 percent from three-point range. Wake Forest took advantage of the Tigers’ slow start and went into the break with a seven-point advantage.
Clemson came out of halftime humming on all cylinders and opened the half on a 11-1 run. The Tigers offensive attack was led by Hall who scored 11 of his 21 in the second half including a momentum swinging fastbreak dunk. Clemson shot 70.0 percent in the second half, including 66.7 percent on threes and finished 15-for-15 at the foul line in the final stanza.
Hemenway continued his hot streak from deep, connecting on 4-of-6. Hemenway has made 8-out-his-last-12 3-point attempts in the past two games.
This marked just the fifth time in program history that the Tigers have won a game by at least 20 points after trailing at the half. It’s only the second time in an ACC contest. The other time was also against Wake Forest on Feb. 7, 1998 – a 71-46 victory.
Clemson returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 7 to take on Towson. The game is slated to tip off at 9 p.m. on RSN.
