Tigers Set To Host Wake Forest In ACC Home Opener

Jan. 8, 2000

Tigers Have won Last 4 ACC home Openers Clemson has a 28-36 record over the last four years in ACC play, a .438 winning percentage, but the Tigers have a 4-0 record in ACC home openers during this time. The streak started with a 51-48 win over 19th-ranked Duke in 1995-96. In 1996-97 Clemson downed 10th ranked Duke again in the ACC home opener, this time by an 86-82 score in overtime. Clemson downed a 23rd-ranked Maryland team 78-65 in overtime in 1997-98 in the ACC home opener. Last year, Clemson stopped N.C. State 80-72 in its ACC home opener. Thus, three of those four wins are against top 25 teams.

Clemson will try to continue that streak against Wake Forest, a team that has given Clemson problems in recent years. Last year Wake Forest defeated Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum on January 9th and it was the start of a six-game losing streak for the Tigers. Wake Forest has beaten Clemson seven of the last nine meetings.

Allenspach Stopper in the Middle Clemson 7-1 center Adam Allenspach has proved to be a large obstacle for opposing centers so far this season. A look to the stats shows us that opposing starting centers have averaged just 5.2 points and 5.0 rebounds a game against the Tigers this year. They are just a combined 19-55 from the field against the Tigers, .345 and have just 20 total offensive rebounds in 13 games.

Allenspach has averaged 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game for the first 13 games, all as a starter, so he is obviously winning the war at his position. Allenspach has nine double figure scoring games and three double-doubles. No opposing starting center has a double-double against the Tigers, in fact, only North Carolina’s Brendan Haywood has reached double figures in scoring against the Tigers among opposing starting centers, and that was just a 10-point outing. No opposing starting center has had 10 rebounds against the Tigers this year.

North Carolina 65, Clemson 45 North Carolina held Clemson to 32 percent shooting overall, 3-24 shooting on three-point goals, in gaining a 65-45 win over the Tigers in Chapel Hill on January 6. It was the 46th straight victory for the Tar Heels over the Tigers in Chapel Hill. Freshman Joseph Forte led the Tar Heels with 15 points, while Kris Lang had 12.

Adam Allenspach had six. Ray Henderson might have been Clemson’s best player, as the freshman forward had nine rebounds and six points in 22 minutes off the bench.

Clemson scored just 45 points in the game, its low output in an ACC game since 66-39 loss at North Carolina in 1994-95. Clemson made 19-60 shots from the field and 3-24 three-point shots. It was Clemson’s worst three-point shooting performance since a 1-9 (.111)performance against Charleston Southern in 1997-98.

The game was tied at 11-11 11 minutes into the game on a driving shot by Will Solomon. But, the Tar Heels went on a 15-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 26-13 lead. That 13-point lead was held at halftime, 33-20. Clemson shot just 9-29 in the first half, 2-16 on three-point goals.

Clemson was still in the game at 49-37 with 10:30 left. But, Clemson’s offense died, missing 12 consecutive shots and committing four turnovers during a six-minute drought. The Tar Heels scored 16 straight points and held a 65-37 lead with 4:08 left. Clemson scored the last eight points of the game.

Clemson was beaten on the boards 43-34, just the second time this year that Clemson lost the rebound battle. Clemson held the Tar Heels to just 43.4 percent shooting, below their 51 percent for the season. The Tigers also had just nine turnovers on offense, tying for their low total of the season.

Matchup of Outstanding Guards on Sunday Sunday’s Clemson vs. Wake Forest game will feature two of the top guards in the ACC. The Tigers are led by Will Solomon, who leads the league in scoring with a 21.1 average, and in three-point goals per game with 3.1. Solomon has led Clemson in scoring in 11 of the 13 games and he has 40 of the team’s 73 three-point goals. Solomon has scored in double figures in every game this year.

Wake Forest guard Robert O’Kelley, a junior, has scored in double figures in 10 straight games. He leads the Demon Deacons in scoring with a 15-point average, 11th in the ACC in scoring. Solomon leads the ACC in three-point goals per game, O’Kelley is ranked fifth.

Henderson Has Finest Game One of the bright spots of Clemson’s 20-point loss at North Carolina was the play of freshman forward Ray Henderson. A native of Charlotte, NC, Henderson had a productive 22 minutes of play. Troubled by injury most of this year, Henderson had a season best and team high nine rebounds in those 22 minutes, including four off the offensive boards. He also made 3-5 shots from the field and did not have a turnover in 22 minutes. He also had an effect on the production of Brendan Haywood. The 7-1 North Carolina center had just 10 points and got just four field goal attempts in the game.

For the season, Henderson is 11-17 from the field and that 65 percent shooting is best on the Clemson team. He has 35 rebounds in just 111 minutes of play, a rebound every 3.2 minutes. That is the top rebounds per minute figure on the Clemson team. Over his last 28 minutes, he has 15 rebounds, including nine offensive.

Foster Honored on Sunday Former Clemson Head Coach Bill Foster will be honored prior to Sunday’s game with Wake Forest. Clemson’s head coach from 1975-84 posted a record of 156-106 for his nine years as head coach. His .595 winning percentage is best in Clemson history given a minimum of five years as head coach. He still owns 10 Clemson coaching records, including the mark for most wins over top 20 teams in a single season and victories in overtime games (13). Those marks were enhanced in 1979-80 when the 23-9 Tigers advanced to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament, still the only time Clemson has reached a regional final. That year Clemson defeated #1 ranked Duke, 87-82 in overtime, still the only win by the Clemson program over the nation’s top team. In that same week Clemson defeated 6th-ranked North Carolina and head coach Dean Smith. This is the 20-year anniversary of that 1980 Clemson team and Foster will be presented a plagued commemorating that season prior to Sunday’s game with Wake Forest. After leading the Clemson program for nine years, Foster went on to coach Miami (FL) from 1986-90 and Virginia Tech 1992-97. Altogether, Foster won 532 games as a college coach in 30 seasons and won 62 percent of his games. On Monday he will be inducted into the Atlanta Tipoff Club Hall of Fame.

Conrad Appointed by Reno Bobby Conrad, the starting point guard on Bill Foster’s 1979-80 team that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, has been appointed Director of the Campaign Finance Task Force by Attorney General Janet Reno. The announcement was made December 27th in Washington DC.

Conrad, now a resident of Charlotte, NC, has been an Assistant United States Attorney for Western North Carolina. He will take an 18-month sabatical from that job to serve his appointment under Reno. His primary activity will be to look into allegations of illegal campaign contributions during the 1996 election cycle.

Conrad graduated from Clemson in 1980. He was a member of the Tiger basketball team for four years, a starter his last two seasons. In 1979-80 he led the Tigers in assists with 157 and averaged 7.8 poins per game. He shot 81 percent from the foul line, including an 8-8 performance in Clemson’s 87-82 overtime victory against #1 ranked Duke.

For his career, Conrad scored 542 points and dealt out 402 assists in 116 games. He also had 172 rebounds and shot 71.6 percent from the foul line. A three-time Academic All-ACC performer, Conrad was the recipient of Clemson’s 1980 Norris Medal, which is given to the top all-around student on the Clemson campus. From Clemson, he went on to earn his law degree at the University of Virginia.

Clemson vs. Wake Forest Series Wake Forest has an 83-49 lead in the series against Clemson, including two wins in 1998-99. The Tigers, however, have a 32-29 lead in games played at Clemson, and 18-13 in Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers last defeated Wake Forest in 1997-98. In fact, Clemson won the last two meetings that year, both by almost 20 points. Wake Forest has won 15 of the last 20 since the 1990-91 season. Clemson won all three games in the 1989-90 season.

The most intriguing matchup in recent matchup between Clemson and Wake Forest took place in the 1996-97 season when the second ranked Tigers met the fourth-ranked Wake Forest team. Wake Forest was led by All-American Tim Duncan. Clemson was 16-1 heading into the game and its #2 ranking was the highest in school history. Clemson students camped out in 141 tents in preparation for tickets and nine satellite trucks covered the game, the largest media hype for a game at Littlejohn history. But, the home fans went home unhappy as Duncan led the Deacs to a 65-62 victory. Current Clemson senior Andrius Jurkunas was called for a charge in the last 10 seconds with the Tigers down by just one point.

Last Meeting at Winston-Salem

Wake Forest 79, Clemson 69 Wake Forest made 54 percent of its shots in the second half, including 50 percent from three-point range for the game, and defeated the Tigers 79-69 at Wake Forest on Feb. 10, 1999. Clemson had cut the lead to three points with 1:04 left, but the Demon Deacons made their free throws down the stretch and swept the Tigers for the season.

Clemson was led in scoring by Terrell McIntyre who had 23 points and seven assists, but the senior made just 6-21 shots from the field. Andrius Jurkunas and Tony Christie scored 13 points apeice to help the Clemson attack. Both made three three-point goals and the Tigers connected on 10-26 from long range for the game. Christie had three assists and no turnovers in 28 minutes.

Adam Allenspach had his best game against an ACC team since he became a Tiger. The sophomore seven-footer had six points on 3-3 field goal shooting, had a team best seven rebounds and blocked four shots. Tom Wideman made 4-4 shots from the field and had five rebounds.

Clemson took a 19-9 lead in the first eight minutes of the game as Clemson made 8 of its first 11 shots from the field. But, Wake Forest tied thegame at 21-21 at the 6:18 mark and went on to a 34-33 lead. Wake Forest opened a seven-point lead at 40-33 at the 16 minute mark. Clemson then opened a four point lead at 54-50 with 7:46 left on a layup by Tom Wideman.

Wake Forest then went on the key streak of the game, outscoring Clemson 13-0. they held a nine-point lead at 65-56 with three minutes left. Clemson cut the margin to three at the 1:04 mark on a three-pointer by McIntyre, but Joseph Amonett hit 4-4 free throws inside the last minute and Wake Forest went on to victory.

Clemson shot 73.3 percent from the foul line and 38.5 percent on three-point shots, but Wake Forest won the rebounding battle 30-28, the first time Clemson has been out-rebounded in an ACC game all season.

Last Year at Clemson

Wake Forest 64, Clemson 61 Clemson won the rebound margin and turnover margin and made four more free throws, but still suffered a three-point loss to Wake Forest at Littlejohn Coliseum. It was a difficult loss for the Tigers, who started a six-game losing streak with the defeat, a streak that kept Clemson out of its fourth straight NCAA Tournament.

Wake Forest scored on nine of 10 possessions down the stretch, led for the most part by guard Robert O’Kelley. O’Kelley had scored just two points in the first half, but tallied 16 in the second half, including four three-point goals. Ervin Murray scored 11 points, while Rafael Vidaurreta had 10 points and nine rebounds. Wake Forest shot 50 percent from the field for the game, 57 percent in the second half.

Clemson had a 25-19 lead with a few seconds left prior to halftime, but Craig Dawson hit a long three-point goal with two seconds remaining to five the Deacs momentum at intermission. Wake led 38-33 on a three-point goal by O’Kelley with eight minutes left. Clemson cut the lead to one twice in the last minute, but could never shutout the Demon Deacons. Clemson actually scored 24 points in the last 7:47 of the game and made 4 of their last five shots from the field, yet lost.

Terrell McIntyre was outstanding with 24 points, four assists and just one turnover. Harold Jamison, who was coming off a 25-point game against NC State, had just four shots from the field and scored eight. Andrius Jurkunas had 11. Craig Dawson made 4-4 free throws down the stretch to ice the win for Dave Odom’s team.

Clemson veterans vs. Wake Forest Clemson does not have many players with experience against Wake Forest. Of course, with only five returning players from last year, Clemson doesn’t have many players with experience against any ACC team. Andrius Jurkunas has played seven games against the Demon Deacons, four as a starter He scored 24 points against Wake Forest in two games last year, but is just 14-47 from the field in his career against Wake Forest, just 29.7 percent. He is 8-35 on three-point shots, 23 percent.

Clemson’s leading scorer this year, Adam Allenspach is 6-8 in his career and has six blocked shtos in 60 minutes.

Clemson Veterans Career vs. Wake Forest

Clemson on Record Pace in Rebound Margin If the season ended today, this would be the highest rebound margin by a Clemson team in school history. The Tigers are +7.5 in overall games so far this year. Clemson has been outrebounded just twice all year, a sign of the hustle and drive of Larry Shyatt’s team. Wisconsin-GB is the only non-conference team this year to hold a rebounding edge against the Tigers and that was by a 35-31 margin. North Carolina won the rebound battle 43-34 in the ACC opener.

Clemson has won the battle of theboards in 11 of its 13 games this year and has had a double figure advantage in seven of the 13 games. Clemson has a positive rebound margin in its last seven games last year, so the Tigers have outrebounded the opposition in 18 of their last 20 games. Larry Shyatt’s has been Clemson’s head coach for 48 games and the Tigers have been beaten on the glass just eight times.

The Clemson record for rebound margin in a season is +7.4 rebounds per game set by last year’s team. That team broke the record of +5.8 set by the 1975-76 Clemson team that was led by Tree Rollins. Three other Clemson teams have been at +4.9 rebounds per game for a season. The Clemson team of 1989-90 led by Dale Davis and Elden Campbell had a +4.5 rebound margin per game.

Clemson’s Top Rebound Margin Teams

Solomon Three-point Goal Streak at 16 Clemson guard Will Solomon has made at least one three-point goal in each game this year and has a streak of 17 straight with at least one three-point goal over two years. This is the third longest streak of its kind in Clemson history. His streak started with the last four games of 1998-99, all NIT games, and has continued through the first 13 games this year.

Terrell McIntyre holds the recordwith 26 games in a row set over the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Chris Whitney, now with the Washington Wizzards, had a 25-game streak, the last 25 games of his career.

In fact, Whitney and McIntyre have the top four streak in Clemson history. So, Solomon is just the third different Tiger in history to have a streak of at least 16 in a row. Solomon is 40-117 in terms of three-point shooting so far this year, a 34.2 percent mark. His 40 three point goals ranked 10th best in the nation through games of January 7. He now has 66 three-point goals for his career, 36 last year and 40 this season.

Solomon had a career high six three point goals in a win over charleston Southern and made five in a win over Winthrop. In fact, he had at least three three-point goals in each of the seven games in the month of December has had multiple three-point goals in 11 of the first 13 games this season.

Clemson Consecutive Game Streak with a Three-Point Goal

Solomon Leads ACC in Scoring, Minutes, 3-Pt Goals Will Solomon leads the ACC in three categories. His 21.1 scoring average is best in the league and 13th in the nation, while his 3.1 three-point goals per game also is first in the league. In fact, his 40 made three-point goals stands in a tie for 10th best in the nation. Solomon also leads the ACC in playing time, averaging 36.4 minutes per game.

Solomon is attempting to become just the fourth Tiger in history to lead the ACC in scoring. Butch Zatezalo paced the league twice, with a 23.0 average in 1967-68 and with a 25.8 average in 1968-69. He did not lead the league as a senior. Horace Grant led the league as a senior in 1986-87 with a 21.0 scoring mark, while Terrell McIntyre led the conference last year with a 17.9 figure.

Solomon’s 21.8 scoring average is the highest by a Clemson player since Zatezalo averaged 25.8 in 1968-69. The Clemson record for a season is a 28.3 figure by Bill Yarborough in 1954-55. Yarborough did not lead the league that year because of Virginia’s Buzz Willinson’s 32.1 average, a figure that is still the ACC record.

Allenspach Coming on Strong Adam Allenspach leads the Tigers in rebounding , double-doubles and free throw shooting so far this year. The 7-1 junior has averaged 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. His rebound figure is seventh best in the league. He has shot 51.8 percent from the field, but does not average the needed 5 made field goals per game.

Allenspach has three double-doubles this year, with the most recent coming against Winthrop on December 18. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the Clemson victory. He is coming off a 19-point, seven rebound performance in a win over Furman. That was a career high in scoring for Allenspach.

Allenspach has scored in double figures in five of his last six games and has averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds per game during this time. He has made 31 of his last 54 from the field (.574) and has connected on 22 of his last 31 shots from the foul line during the six game stretch. He has made over 50 percent of his field goals in five of the last six games games and in nine of the 13 games this year.

Nagys Getting to the Foul Line One of the freshmen who has made an impact this year is Tomas Nagys. The native of Lithuania had six points in 10 minutes against Furman, including 4-6 from the foul line and three rebounds. He also had an assist and drew a charge. He leads the Tigers in charges taken this year with eight. He has a knack for getting to the foul line, as his six free throws in 10 minutes against Furman will show.

Nagys has attempted at least one free throw in 11 of the 13 games this year, including a high of 7-8 shooting in just 10 minutes in the season opener. For the season, Nagys has attempted 40 free throws in just 127 minutes, or one every three minutes of play. That is by far the best on the team.

Jurkunas Providng All-Around Play A 33 percent field goal percentage, including 28 percent from three-point land is not exactly what Andrius Jurkunas had in mind for his final season at Clemson. But, Larry Shyatt’s would be the first to tell you he is more than pleased with his leadership and all-around play.

Jurkunas suffered a broken thumb on his shooting (right) hand while attempting to draw a charge against Central Florida in the season’s third game. He missed the rest of that game and the next four games. Clemson was 1-3 in those games.

Since returning to the lineup, a period of six games, he has played with a soft cast over the thumb. The cast obviously affects his shooting and he is 10 for 32 during this time. But, he has made six three-point goals, quite an accomplishment if you look at the cast.

It has forced Jurkunas to contribute on other ways…and he has. In the win over South Carolina he had played almost the entire second half and scored just two points, but had seven rebounds and four assists. He contributed six assists and eight points in the win over Winthrop, then had a career high seven assists and a career high 11 rebounds in a loss to George Washington. In the win over Furman he had four points, five rebounds and a blocked shot in 19 minutes.

Jurkunas is Clemson’s most experienced player. He has played in 98 games, 61 as a starter and has played 2104 career minutes, nearly 1000 more than any other Tiger. He has 116 career three-point goals, more than any other forward in Clemson history, and has 630 points, also high among active Tigers. His 358 rebounds are also best among active Tigers.

Clemson 74, Furman 70 Clemson played its best 15 minutes of the year in the first half, then made some clutch free throws down the stretch and defeated Furman 74-70 at the BiLo Center in Greenville, SC on December 29th. Adam Allenspach added 19 points and a team high seven rebounds. Kyle Julius led Furman with 21 points, 19 in the second half.

The Tigers jumped out to a 34-14 lead with 5:30 left in the half. Solomon and Allenspach both scored 11 points for the Tigers, who made 11 of their first 17 shots from the field. Clemson had just three turnovers during that time, and pushed the ball to score against Furman’s fullcourt defense. But, the Paladins, behind 18-22 first half free throw shooting, cut the lead to 39-30 at intermission.

Clemson held the lead at double figures for the first seven minutes of the second half, but Furman went on a shooting binge. Julius made three straight three-point goals and cut the lead to 53-50 with 11:22 left. Furman finally tied the game at 61 with four minutes left on another three-point goal by Julius.

But the Paladins never could get over the hump. Clemson outscored Furman 13-9 over the last four minutes. Solomon and Allenspach combined for 10 of those 13 points. Solomon made 4-5 free throws inside the last four minutes and Allenspach made 2-3. Allenspach also made a pair of field goals, leading Clemson to its 24th straight win over the Paladins.

Clemson shot a solid 45.5 percent in each half and obviously 45.5 percent for the game. The Tigers won the rebound battle 41-36 and committed just 13 turnovers. Clemson turned the ball over in the backcourt just once the entire night. Pasha Bains supported Solomon and Allenspach with seven points and five assists. The freshman had just one turnover. Tomas Nagys also was a contributore with six points, three rebounds and an assist. He also drew a charge. Clemson held Furman to 32.7 percent shooting for the game.

Tigers Taking Charge One area Clemson has shown improvement in this year from a defensive standpoint is taking charges. The Tigers have already drawn 28 charges in 13 games, after taking 46 charges in 35 contests last year. Clemson has taken a charge in all but one game (Central Florida) this year, with a high of four against East Tennessee State in the opener. Clemson has taken three in five other games.

Leading the way is freshman Adam Allenspach has taken three. Eight different Tigers have taken a charge this year.

10 of 13 Clemson Games Up For Grabs with Five Minutes left While Clemson has a 6-6 record so far this year, Clemson has been in all but three contests with five minutes left. Clemson has been out of just threegames with five minutes left, a 53-35 loss to Oregon State in the SoCon Holiday Hoops on November 28, the George Washington game on December 22 and the ACC opener at North Carolina. George Washington hit 15 three-point goals in defeating Clemson 90-71 in Littlejohn Coliseum.

In Clemson’s 17-point loss to Wisconsin-GB, the Tigers were tied with the Phenix at 40-40 with 5:42 left. In a 10-point loss to Penn State, Clemson trailed by just four with two minutes left.

Clemson has shown an ability to win close games this year, something that was not the case last season. The Tigers have won four games by six points or less, including each of the last three Clemson victories (over a four-game period). Clemson defeated South Carolina 61-58, then defeated Winthrop 64-59. In Clemson’s most recent game, the Tigers held off Furman 74-70. Clemson is 4-2 in games decided by six points or less this year.

Clemson Injury Update Clemson continues to have players miss practice due to injury. On Monday of this week, four scholarship players missed practice due to injury. Ray Henderson and Tomas Nagys, all missed the two hour practice due to injury. Only Braddick is definitely out for the North Carolina game.

Braddick had surgery to repair a foot problem on December 19th. He has missed the last two games. On January 3rd he had surgery on the same foot to correct a tendon problem. He will be out two more weeks.

Javtokas has a sprained ankle that limited his time against Furman, while Ray Henderson has a cartilage problem in his chest. He played just six minutes against Furman. He came back to play his best game against North Carolina. Nagys missed three straight days of practice due to an achilles tendon problem, but played against North Carolina.

Clemson has not had its full roster of scholarship players available for one practice all year. In addition to the above injury problems, Chuck Gilmore has missed three games with a concussion, Andrius Jurkunas missed four games with a broken thumb and Edward Scott missed three games with a broken foot.