After dropping six straight games, the Clemson Tigers (12-8, 2-6) collected a much-needed victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers (12-9, 1-7) at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday afternoon. Led by senior forward Jaron Blossomgame, who scored a game-high 25 points, Clemson outscored Pitt 36-24 in the second half en route to a 67-60 victory.
The Tigers shot 52 percent from the field in what was an overall efficient offensive performance. Blossomgame knocked down a season-high four three-pointers for the Tigers, but he credited Clemson’s lockdown defense with the win: “We were just really locked in defensively. There were shots that we wanted them to take, and, fortunately, they missed them.”
Senior forward Jamel Artis, Pitt’s leading scorer, scored 16 points for the Panthers, as did sophomore guard Cameron Johnson; but, all in all, Pitt struggled offensively, shooting a subpar 33 percent from the floor.
Pitt had a five-point advantage at halftime but went cold in the second half as the Tigers used a 12-0 run out of the break to take a lead that they never relinquished. Clemson led by as many as 10 in the second half and staved off a late Pitt run to earn a hard-fought seven-point win.
Sophomore point guard Shelton Mitchell contributed 12 points and six assists for the Tigers, and junior guard Gabe DeVoe, who converted on a crucial two-point jumper to provide the Tigers with some breathing room late in the game, scored nine points. Also of note, during the course of his 25-point performance, Blossomgame became the 11th player in Clemson history to score 1,500 points in a career.
The Tigers will look to extend their winning ways on Wednesday when they take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (13-8, 5-4), this time back on Clemson turf. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Littlejohn Coliseum.