Clemson Starts ACC Play 2-0 Clemson headed up to Pittsburgh looking to get to 2-0 in the ACC and extend an impressive 13 game win streak against the Panthers as well. The first half featured a lot of inside buckets for the Tigers and trips to the FT line for the Panthers in a back […]
Clemson Starts ACC Play 2-0
Clemson headed up to Pittsburgh looking to get to 2-0 in the ACC and extend an impressive 13 game win streak against the Panthers as well. The first half featured a lot of inside buckets for the Tigers and trips to the FT line for the Panthers in a back and forth affair. Clemson started the game quickly looking to attack Pitt’s thin front court and R.J. Godfrey got to double figures by the half. Jestin Porter also put together a strong first half, including a 6 point flurry featuring crafty finishes around the rim and a tough fadeaway baseline jumper to beat the shot clock. The early momentum got cut when the refs decided to assess a technical foul on Godfrey after he finished a dunk. Clemson was up 19-16 at that point, but the tech swung momentum to the Panthers and had them in the bonus with nearly 8 minutes of the half still to play. Clemson retook the lead thanks to more good work from Godfrey and Nick Davidson in the paint and the foul line before Pitt finished the half with a hero ball 3 from leading scorer Damarco Minor to take a 35-34 lead at the break. Pitt finished the first half with 5 made 3’s to just 2 for Clemson and also made 10 of 14 free throws to Clemson’s 6 of 9. Clemson again struggled from the 3 point line, going just 2-9 in the first half with most of those being very open looks.
Clemson got things going after a Brownell timeout early in the second half, dialing up a pin down play for Jestin Porter to knock down a 3. Clemson also ramped up the defense to fuel a 12-2 run to build a 7 point lead before Pitt broke it with a step back 3. The physical play would continue from both sides with guys going for dunks on top of each other on both ends of the floor. Clemson got even more aggressive with its full court defense to force a 5 second violation that led to 2 Godfrey free throws to get the lead back to 51-45 by the under 12 minute timeout.
Pitt stayed in the game with several difficult one on one shots under duress, and then surged to reclaim the lead 56-53 after a Tiger turnover and a dunk by Barry Dunning prompted a Brownell timeout. Butta Johnson buried his 3rd 3 of the game from a Dillon Hunter kick out to tie the game once again. Clemson then got two more three pointers out of Jestin Porter to take back the lead at 62-58 ahead of the under 4 minute timeout, but Pitt continued to draw fouls and again got to the bonus well ahead of the Tigers. Carter Welling finished a tough hook while being fouled in the paint as Clemson’s balanced attack continued to show up.
Clemson fouled Pitt’s center Cam Corhen out with 3:28 to play to finally get into the bonus, and Nick Davidson went 1-2 from the line to make the lead 66-61. After a tremendous defensive possession, Clemson executed a beautiful give and go for a Porter lay-up to push the lead to 7. However, Pitt would not go away as Omari Witherspoon finished a tough shot to cut it back to 5. Pitt missed a transition 3 and had to start fouling, and Dillon Hunter once again was clutch from the FT line making 2. Carter Welling had a tremendous block but Hunter missed the front end of a 1-1 to keep Pitt’s hopes alive. However, the Panthers would turn it over in the transition, and Butta Johnson had his chance to ice it before he too missed a front end free throw. Pitt missed a 3 and Jestin Porter had his chance to ice things from the line, which he delivered 2-2 to make it a 3 possession game.
Clemson was led by Jestin Porter’s 21 points followed by R.J. Godfrey’s 14. Nick Davidson and Butta Johnson provided 24 points off the bench to give the Tigers 4 guys in double figures. Pitt was led by Minor’s 17 but made only 1 3 in the second half and ended up losing the made FT battle 16 to 18. Road wins are always huge and you never want to take them for granted. Clemson now will have 4 of the next 5 games at home beginning with an sneaky tough SMU squad on Wednesday, January 7th.
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Category: General Sports
