Tigers Travel To University Hall For A Meeting With The #9 Cavaliers

Feb. 26, 2001

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Tigers 3-19 at Virginia Last 22 Years University Hall has been a building of horrors for Clemson the last 22 years. Clemson has a 3-19 record in the building since 1979 and all three wins have come in special seasons.

The Tigers won in 1987 by a 94-90 score thanks to a late three-point goal in overtime by Horace Grant, the only three-point goal of his career, and with the help of a late four-point play by Anthony Jenkins. Clemson finished with a school record 25 wins that year. In 1990, Clemson gained victory 76-70 behind Dale Davis and Elden Campbell. Cliff Ellis’s Tigers claimed the school’s only ACC regular season championship that year.

And, four years ago the Tigers defeated a 25th-ranked Virginia team, 62-52. That Clemson team, went on to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and won 23 games.

There have been some unusual shooting games for Clemson in the building. The two worst shooting games in Clemson history have taken place in University Hall. In Cliff Ellis’s final season, the Tigers shot just 15-63 in the building, .238, the worst shooting performance in Clemson history, in a 50-44 loss. The next year, Rick Barnes’s first season, Clemson made just 12-50, and the .240 is the second worst field goal percentage in Clemson history.

In 1993 at Virginia, Clemson scored just 16 points in the first half on 6-36 shooting, then scored 66 in the second half, the highest scoring second half in Clemson history in an ACC game, but still lost 100-82. In 1984 at Charlottesville, Clemson shot .675 from the field on 27-40 shooting, but still suffered defeat 77-70. That is the second highest field goal percentage in school history in a loss. Clemson was 16-20 from the field at the half in that game (80 percent) , but still trailed at intermission by seven (40-33).

Clemson vs. Virginia Series Virginia holds a 57-43 advantage in the series with Clemson, a series that dates to 1936 when Clemson won at Charlottesville, 45-34. That was the only meeting between the two teams prior to the formation of the ACC. Since 1955 Clemson and Virginia have met at least twice per season.

Virginia has won each of the last three meetings, including earlier this year at Littlejohn Coliseum, but Virginia holds just a 6-5 lead over the last 11 games. Clemson had won four in a row over Virginia in Littlejohn Coliseum by an average of 14 points prior to last year’s 98-91 win by the Cavaliers. That includes Clemson’s impressive 88-65 win in 1998-99, Larry Shyatt’s first year as Clemson head coach.

The Tigers don’t fare well in close games against Virginia. In fact, in the last 22 years, regardless of site, Clemson is 2-15 against the Cavaliers in games decided by five points or less. That includes six straight losses since a 65-62 Clemson win at Clemson in 1988, a game that was won on a baseline jumper by Elden Campbell in the last five seconds of the game.

For a period of time the series featured many close games. In the 1980s, 11 games were decided by five points or less, including nine that were decided by two or one point. In the 1990s, just five were decided by five or less.

Last Meeting With Virginia Virginia 104, Clemson 76 Jan. 27, 2001 at Clemson, SC

Virginia had four different players score at least 17 points to offset a 28-point effort by fresh,man Chris Hobbs in a 104-76 Cavalier win at Clemson on January 27. Virginia connected on 57.4 percent of its field goal attempts overall, 50 percent from three-point land and 72.4 percent from the foul line. The Cavs also out-rebounded Clemson 43-32 and committed just 10 turnovers in its finest all-around performance of the first half of the season for the then 12th ranked team.

Clemson shot 39 percent for the game, but hit just 4-23 from the field to open the contest. Clemson went nearly seven minutes without a point at one stretch. That poor Clemson shooting led to a 36-12 Virginia advantage to open the game. Clemson trailed 47-28 at intermission. The Tigers cut the lead to 15 in the second half, but that was as close as the Tigers could get. Virginia made 22-33 shots from the field in the second half, 66.7 percent. It was Clemson’s worst home loss since Duke defeated the Tigers by 29 in 1990-91.

Chris Hobbs scored 28 points and had a team best nine rebounds to lead the Tigers. Hobbs hit 10-13 from the field and 8-9 free throws in scoring the most points by a Clemson freshman since the 1995-96 season. Virginia held Clemson scoring leader Will Solomon to just 10 points on 2-14 shooting. It was season low for Solomon, who had scored a season high 41 in the previous contest with Georgia Tech.

Chris Williams scored 22 and Donald Hand added 20 points and nine assists to lead the Cavs. Adam Hall had 17 points and 12 rebounds and led the defense against Solomon.

Clemson made 71.4 percent from the foul line. The Tigers made more free throws than Virginia attempted, an unusual accomplishment for the losing team. The Tigers also committed just 10 turnovers, its low total for an ACC game. Tony Stockman scored 13 points and had five assists with no turnovers.

Last Year At Virginia Virginia 76, Clemson 62 Feb. 15, 2000 at Charlottesville

Virginia used balance scoring and jumped to a 17-point lead in the first half, and defeated Clemson 76-62 in Charlottesville last year. Donald Hand scored 21 points and had six assists to lead Virginia, while Chris Williams added 16. Adam Hall scored 10 points and did a solid defensive job on Will Solomon, who scored 13 points on 4-13 shooting. He had scored 43 points against Virginia in the previous meeting, a game that Hall had missed.

Clemson was led in scoring by Adam Allenspach, who had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. It was his first extended performance since suffering a back injury at Duke. Ray Henderson had nine points and eight rebounds. Clemson won the battle of the boards, 39-31, but committed 19 turnovers and shot just 2-12 on three-point shots.

Shyatt, Gillen Both Coached At Providence Larry Shyatt and Pete Gillen have a common school in their history. Both coached with the Providence Friars. Shyatt was an assistant under Rick Barnes from 1988-94 and was on the staff that won the only Big East Tournament Championship in the school’s history. Gillen was the head coach at Providence after Barnes left and took the Friars to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament two years ago. Gillen ended up coaching many of the players Shyatt had recruited to Providence, including first-round draft choice Austin Croshere.

Clemson at Virginia Senior Day The Clemson vs. Virginia game in Charlottesville will be the second of three consecutive “Senior Day” games for the Tigers. Clemson plays at Virginia on the Cavalier’s “Senior Night” on Wednesday, then Clemson will finally have its final home game for Adam Allenspach on March 3.

Clemson won at NC State last year to ruin the Senior Day game for Justin Gainey and the Wolfpack. Clemson lost the other two “Senior Day” games last year, its own against Duke, then lost at Tech in Jason Collier’s final home game.

Clemson has an 11-29 lifetime record in opposing Senior Night games. Clemson was 0-2 in “Senior Games” in 1998-99, losing at Maryland and at Duke. Clemson had just one Senior Night road win in the decade of the 1980s, at Duke in 1984 in Bill Foster’s final ACC Road game as Clemson head coach. The Tigers had three such wins in the 1990s and one so far in the first decade of the 21st century.

Clemson is now 1-7 at Georgia Tech, 3-3 at Virginia, 2-7 at Maryland, 0-4 at North Carolina, 3-0 at NC State, 2-6 at Duke, and 0-2 at South Carolina on “Senior Day”. Clemson has never been Senior Night for Florida State. Clemson defeated two teams on “Senior Night” games in the 1961-62 season. That was also the only year Clemson went to the finals of the ACC Tournament. That remains the only year Clemson has won two opposing “Senior Night” games.

Clemson Wins on Opponent Senior Nights

Clemson’s Last Game Georgia Tech 85, Clemson 64 Feb. 25, 2001 at Atlanta, GA

Georgia Tech outscored Clemson 19-9 over the last 6:44 of the game and went on to an 85-64 win over the Tigers on Feb. 25 at Atlanta, GA. The Tigers had cut the margin to 66-55, but could not get any closer, as Tech improved to 16-10 overall, 8-7 in the ACC with the victory.

Clemson had a balanced scoring game as four players scored in double figures, plus another Tiger scored eight. But, Clemson could not overcome the performance of Tech seniors Shaun Fein and T.J. Vines. Fein scored 22 points, including 18 in a nine-minute spurt over the final four minutes of the first half and first five minutes of the second half. Vines scored a season high 12 points and had three steals.

Clemson was led in scoring by Tony Stockman, who scored 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half. Will Solomon added 13 points and five assists, while Chris Hobbs and Edward Scott had 10 points apiece. Hobbs had his sixth double-double of the season as he also added 10 rebounds, while Scott had a season high tying seven assists.

Adam Allenspach had his best game since early January with eight points on 4-10 shooting and he also had two rebounds in his 19 minutes of play. He had a lot to do with Georgia Tech center Alvin Jones scoring just two points in 30 minutes. Jones did not have a field goal. The Tech senior had scored 26 points in his team’s 111-108 win at Clemson earlier in the season.

Clemson won the battle of the boards, 37-35, but shot just 65 percent from the foul line and committed 17 turnovers. Clemson did not make a three-point goal in the second half and shot just 5-19 for the game in that area.

Clemson led 26-22 at the 5:18 mark of the first half on a layup by Tomas Nagys. But, Tech went on an 11-0 run to take a 33-26 lead, as Fein scored eight points in a row. Tech led 36-31 at the half. Tech opened the second half with a 20-8 run and held a 56-39 lead at the 12:22 mark. The lead got to 19 before Clemson went on an 8-0 run to close the margin to 66-55 with 6:44 left.

While the turnover margin was just four (17-13), points off turnovers were 27-7 in favor of Tech, in line with the scoring margin for the game.

Tigers Have Been Up and Down Clemson has been on quite a rollar-coaster ride of late. Over the last four games, Clemson has lost by 35 points at NC State, its worst margin of defeat to the Pack since 1955, defeated #1 ranked North Carolina for its second win in history over the number-one team, then lost at home to Wake Forest by 32 points, Clemson’s worst margin of defeat in the history of Littlejohn Coliseum. That was followed by a loss at Tech, a game Clemson trailed by just 11 with six minutes left.

You never know what will happen from one half to the next with this young Clemson team. Clemson scored 45 points (to just 30) in the second half against North Carolina. The Tar Heels were second in the nation in field goal percentage defense at the time of the game. The next half, the first half against Wake Forest, the Tigers hit just 3-22 shots from the field and scored just nine points, Clemson’s low point total for a half since scoring just six in the first half against South Carolina in the 1945 Southern Conference Tournament.

Scott Free Throw Streak Hits 22 in a Row We know writing this note will jinx him, but Edward Scott has been on quite a free throw shooting streak of late. In fact, it is the longest streak by a Clemson player in 17 years. Scott, a sophomore point guard, has made 22 consecutive free throws dating to the first game with Maryland on January 2 at Littlejohn Coliseum. For the year he has made 41-49 for .837, but he is an even more impressive 22-23 in ACC play. That includes a 4-4 performance inside the last minute of Clemson’s win over #1 North Carolina. He did not attempt a free throw at Georgia Tech.

Scott’s free throw streak is the longest by a Clemson player since Anthony Jenkins made 24 in a row, his last 19 of the 1982-83 season and his first five of the 1983-84 season. The Clemson record is 41 in a row by Jim Brennan, set in the 1961-62 season. The ACC mark is 48 in a row by Jeff Lamp of Virginia in 1979-80. The national record, set this year, is 73 in a row by Gary Buchanan of Villanova. Buchanan had made 84-86 from the foul line .977 through games played of February 19.

Scott Running the Offense Clemson point guard Edward Scott has scored in double figures in seven of his last 14 games, all against ACC competition. He has averaged 8 points a game during the 14-game stretch. That included a 5-6 shooting game ata Tech. He also had seven assists in that game to tie his career high. He had just three turnovers against Tech’s pressing defense.

Scott recently had one of the top games of his career against Duke. He tallied 15 points against the #3 team in the nation, his high point total against an ACC opponent as a Clemson player. He also had a career-high eight rebounds and held Jason Williams to more turnovers (10) than points (8).

Scott has done a good job running the Clemson offense. He has 108 assists and 62 turnovers. He has significantly surpassed his assist total for all of last year when he had 69 assists in 789 minutes. He has had more turnovers than assists in just three games all season.

Scott was an efficient four assists and no turnovers in the win over #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18. He did that in 34 minutes, tying his personal high for minutes played without a turnover.

Clemson 75, #1 North Carolina 65 Clemson rode a 26-point performance from Will Solomon, plus 16 from freshman guard Tony Stockman and upset number-one ranked North Carolina 75-65 at a sold out Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 18, 2001. It was just the second time in Clemson history and the first time in 21 years that the Tigers upset the nation’s top ranked team.

Clemson also had outstanding play off the bench from Jamar McKnight and Tomas Nagys. McKnight, who had scored just 27 points in ACC play all year, had eight points in 17 minutes off the bench. He made 4-7 shots, had five rebounds and did not commit a turnover. Nagys had five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. His two field goals were spectacular and were scored in the clutch. One was a three-pointer, just the second of his career, and another was a diving shot from 10 feet out over Julius Peppers. They were scored on consecutive Clemson possessions that gave the Tigers a nine-point lead with nine minutes left.

Solomon scored his 26 points in just 25 minutes. He also had four rebounds and three assists and connected on 5-12 three-point shots. Stockman scored 4-9 three-point goals in tallying his 16 points. He had just one turnover in 35 minutes of play. Point guard Edward Scott scored had nine points, four assists and no turnovers in 34 minutes. Freshman Chris Hobbs added six points and a team best eight rebounds.

North Carolina was led by Jason Capel, Brendan Haywood and Joseph Forte, who all scored 16 points apiece. Forte entered the game second in the ACC in scoring behind Will Solomon by just two total points (489-487). But, the gifted North Carolina guard made just 6-19 shots from the field, 0-4 on three-point attempts.

The much smaller Tigers won the rebounding battle, 44-41. Both teams committed just seven turnovers. It was the lowest turnover total all year for the Tigers. North Carolina made just 38.5 percent of its field goal attempts, its low figure for the year. That included just 1-14 three-point shots in the second half. The Tar Heels made just 7-15 from the foul line.

North Carolina held a 35-30 lead at intermission behind 13 points from Jason Capel. Clemson held Forte to just one point in the first half. Clemson was led by Stockman and Solomon with eight points apiece.

The Tar Heels expanded the margin to seven at 37-30 to open the second half. But, Will Solomon scored 10 consecutive points in a 3:04 time span to tie the score at 42. A reverse layup by Jamar McKnight at the 15:11 mark, put Clemson up 44-42. North Carolina never regained the lead. Clemson went on a 7-0 run, five of the points by Nagys, to take a 54-45 lead at the 9:11 mark.

Forte finally got going at this point. He scored eight straight points at one stretch, then a Brendan Haywood dunk brought North Carolina to within 61-60 with 3:48 left. He was called for a technical on the play for grabbing the rim. Will Solomon made the free throw, then Clemson missed a shot. On the next possession, freshman Tony Stockman stole the ball and scored to give Clemson a 64-60 lead.

Chris Hobbs’s baseline drive gave Clemson a 66-62 lead, then Tony Stockman made a three-point shot with 44 seconds left to give Clemson a seven point lead. The Tigers made 7-7 free throws in the last minute to ice the game. Clemson went on an 11-3 run to finish off the Tar Heels.

Clemson’s top five wins In History