Clemson To Face Florida Atlantic In Puerto Rico Holiday Classic

Dec. 19, 2000

Complete Release in PDF FormatDownload Free Acrobat Reader

Clemson vs. Florida Atlantic Wednesday’s game is just the second meeting between Clemson and Florida Atlantic. The Tigers are 1-0 vs. the Owls from Florida Atlantic. The Tigers claimed the only meeting between the two schools in the 1990-1991 taking a 99-89 decision on Dec. 21, 1990 in the championship game of the Florida International Holiday Tournament in Miami, FL.

About the Owls Florida Atlantic is 2-7 on the year after falling to Birmingham Southern 95-68 Monday night before travelling to San Juan on Tuesday. The Owls had not played since Dec. 9 when it lost to Virginia Commonwealth 70-57. Florida Atlantic opened the season with three straight losses to Miami (FL), Hofstra and Wisconsin-Milwaukee before getting a five-point win against Florida International. The Owls then lost two games to Florida and San Diego State before they defeated Troy State in the Trans Atlantic Athletic Conference opener. FAU is paced by freshman guard Jeff Cowans leads the Owls with 16.1 points per game. The top rebounder is junior forward Raheim Brown who is pulling down 7.4 boards per contest. The stats were not updated following the Birmingham Southern game.

Clemson Connection Florida Atlantic freshman Clay Fuller’s sister is engaged to former Tiger center Tom Wideman. Whitney Fuller used to work in the Clemson men’s basketball office and is a former Miss Georgia. Wideman played at Clemson from 1995 to 1999 and was a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-District selection in 1998 and 1999.

Last Time In Puerto Rico Clemson made its last trip to Puerto Rico in 1996 for the San Juan Thanksgiving Shootout. The Tigers opened the tournament with a 78-71 win over Delaware thanks to the shooting of Merl Code who finished with 19 points after scoring 13 in the second half. Harold Jamison added 15 points with eight rebounds. The Tigers shot 52.5 percent for the game and had a 33-29 rebound advantage, including a 16-9 edge on the offensive glass. In the Tigers’ second game, Clemson needed the heroics of Terrell McIntyre in the final seconds to get past Missouri. He connected for a three-point shot (21 feet, left side) with only four seconds to play to give Clemson a 47-45 victory. McIntyre was 2 of 10 from the field before that game-winning shot. Code again led Clemson on the scoreboard with 13 points.

The win propelled the Tigers into the tournament finale vs. Minnesota, a rematch of the two teams from the preceding season (a 79-66 Clemson victory). In San Juan, the Gophers and Tigers played a defensive battle in the first half with Minnesota claiming a 25-20 halftime lead, but Minnesota used a fierce defense to limit Clemson’s effectiveness on the inside and went on to a 10-point victory, 75-65. McIntyre finished with 23 points. Code had 13 while Jamison and Greg Buckner each scored 12 points apiece.

This is Clemson’s third time to play in Puerto Rico. Clemson has never finished lower than second in Puerto Rico.

Against This Year’s Field Clemson is 5-6 vs. teams in the field of this year’s Puerto Rico Holiday Classic. Of the field, Clemson has played Alabama the most. The Tigers and Crimson Tide have split six games, four of which have been played on neutral sites. Alabama holds a 3-1 lead in neutral site games after winning the last meeting (57-48) between the schools in the final round of the 1989 San Juan Shootout. Clemson’s two other victories in the series were played in Tuscaloosa in 1968 and in Clemson in 1969.

Clemson and Cincinnati have played two times with the Bearcats taking both meetings. Cincinnati won the first-ever meeting between the schools in 1927 and the only ever meeting in 1971.

The Tigers are 1-0 against both Florida Atlantic and Youngstown State. Clemson beat the Owls 99-89 in 1991 and beat the Penguins 104-74 in 1989. Clemson is 0-1 vs. Washington after losing 76-66 to the Huskies in the Great Alaska Shootout in 1982.

Clemson has never played Northern Iowa or Puerto Rico.

Alabama 3-3 Cincinnati 0-2 Florida Atlantic 1-0 Northern Iowa 0-0 Puerto Rico 0-0 Washington 0-1 Youngstown State 1-0 Total 5-6

Clemson In Regular Season Tournaments Clemson has done well in regular season tournaments during the last 25 years. In fact, Clemson has a 55-18 record with 15 tournament championships since the 1977-78 season. Clemson’s biggest regular season tournament title in history was probably the 1980 Rainbow Classic when the Tigers won three games by a combined six points. Along the way Clemson defeated Indiana, 58-57. The Hoosiers went on to win the National Championship that season. It is the only time in history that Clemson has defeated the eventual National Champion.

The last regular season tournament victory was in 1991 when the Tigers defeated Coppin State and Florida Atlantic to win the Florida International Holiday Tournament.

This is Clemson’s third appearance in San Juan, but it is the first time the Tigers will not play in the San Juan Shootout. Paced by Elden Campbell and Dale Davis, Clemson finished second in the 1989 San Juan Shootout. The Tigers beat American University (PR) and Stetson before losing to Alabama, which is on the other side of the bracket in this year’s event. Clemson also finished second in its last appearance in Puerto Rico. The Tigers took victories from Delaware and Missouri before losing to Minnesota.

Last Time OutClemson 78, Wofford 74 Freshman guard Tony Stockman scored a season best 23 points in his first collegiate start as Clemson held on for a 78-74 victory over Wofford Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Stockman, starting for a suspended Will Solomon, was 9 of 17 from the field including 4 of 7 from beyond three-point arch. Senior Adam Allenspach recorded his third consecutive double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Pasha Bains added 15 points and eight rebounds.

Clemson led by 14 points at the half hitting 16 of 31 (51.6 percent) shots from the floor. In the second half, the Tigers extended their lead to 20 points before allowing Wofford , on the heels of forward Ian Chadwick’s 15 second half points, to take a 72-71 lead late in the game. The Tigers rallied to outscore the Terriers 7-1 in the final two minutes. Chadwick finished with 20 points to lead Wofford, which nearly pulled off a second straight upset of the Tigers.

Though Clemson won the battle on the boards 45-43, it gave up 21 offensive rebounds to Wofford, which shot 37 percent from the field compared to Clemson’s 45.6 percent.