On Monday night, the No. 23 Clemson men’s basketball team routed the North Carolina Tar Heels, 85-65, at Littlejohn Coliseum. After a dominant victory for the Tigers, here are some highs and lows from the contest:
Paws up: Dominant first-half performance
The beginning of the game consisted of much back-and-forth between Clemson and North Carolina, with neither team leading by more than 6 points for the first 10 minutes. However, the Tigers never looked back once they took the lead with nine minutes left in the first half.
Clemson went into the halftime break up 49-33, with much of the scoring coming from Viktor Lakhin. While not typically a 3-point shooter, Lakhin scored 20 points and shot 4-for-4 from beyond the arc in the first half.
“I mean, he doesn’t love when I shoot it, but he has to change his mind probably after today,” Lakhin joked postgame.
The Tigers did not just dominate on offense; they also dominated on the defensive side of the ball. They outrebounded the Tar Heels 20-9 in the first half, and that trend continued into the second half as Clemson finished the game with 41 rebounds to North Carolina’s 28.
Paws down: Turnovers
In their previous three matchups against NC State, Georgia Tech and Duke, the Tigers finished with five, 13 and 12 turnovers, respectively. On Monday night, Clemson had 15 total turnovers.
This season, the Tigers are averaging 10.6 turnovers a game, and the last three games for Clemson have only increased that average.
Even though the turnovers against the Tar Heels did not prove detrimental to the Tigers, double-digit turnovers can be the difference between winning and losing close matchups. The trend is undoubtedly one Clemson will want to turn around with just under a month left in regular season play.
Paws up: 3-point shooting
In their last outing against the Blue Devils on Saturday, the Tigers finished the game with just four 3-pointers. They tripled that number on Monday night, shooting 12-for-25 from beyond the arc.
Clemson scored 24 of its 49 points in the first half alone from triples as the team shot 8-for-12 from beyond the arc. Although the percentage came down in the second half, as the Tigers shot just 4-for-13, they finished the game just above their season average.
The points scored from these proved pivotal in the victory and will serve as a shift back in a better direction for Clemson after Saturday’s game.
After the game, head coach Brad Brownell touched on how the team recovered from the Georgia Tech loss and how the 3-pointers impacted the victory.
“Proud of the way our guys have bounced back this last two games; we’ve played very well,” Brownell said. “Obviously, a little different tonight. We made a bunch of threes, and that’s why we have a chance to have a good team. We can beat you in different ways.”
After three games in seven days, the Tigers have a chance to rest for four days this week before they travel to Tallahassee, Florida, to take on Florida State this Saturday at noon.
