Clemson Downs California All-Stars, 71-66

November 4, 1998

Clemson, S.C.–Terrell McIntyre and Andrius Jurkunas combined for 35 points Wednesday night to lead Clemson to a 71-66 exhibition basketball victory over the California All-Stars. It was the first exhibition game for Clemson and the first action against outside competition for first-year Tiger coach Larry Shyatt.

Terrell McIntyre led the Tigers with 18 points. The 5-9 point guard also had nine assist, four steals and just one turnover in 37 minutes of action. He also made all six of his free throw attempts.

Jurkunas was seeing his first action in two years for the Tigers. The 6-9 forward from Lithuania missed all of last season with a knee injury. He played just sparingly in 1996-97 due to an ankle problem, so it was his most significant action on the court in three seasons.

Jurkunas scored 17 points on 5-8 field goals and made 2-4 from three-point land. As a freshman he made 51 three-point goals, still a Clemson freshman record. He also had four rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes of action.

Tom Wideman had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Tigers, as he hit 5-7 shots from the field and played 35 minutes. Johnny Miller had nine points and three assists, while Vincent Whitt scored seven off the bench for Clemson.

The Tigers earned the victory without any playing time from Harold Jamison and Tony Christie, two returning starters from last year’s NCAA Tournament team. Jamison missed the game with a pulled hamstring, while Christie has had problems with a back injury.

The California All-Stars were led by Duane Spencer with 17 points and seven rebounds. The former LSU star hit 7-12 shots from the field. Adam Jacobson scored 13 points and Brian Alexander connected for 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds off the bench.

Clemson connected on 49 percent of its shots for the game, including 59 percent in the first half. The Tigers scored on 9-20 shots from three-point land, 45 percent. California won the battle of the boards 38-29, but shot just 27 percent from three-point land (6-22).

The game was close throughout. Clemson held the lead most of the first half, including a 24-17 margin at the 7:24 mark. But, California went on an 11-2 run to take a 28-26 lead on a fall away shot from Jacobson. The two teams battled back and forth the remainder of the half. Jacobson hit a three-point shot from 30 feet to tie the game at the buzzer ending the half.

The Tigers went on a 10-4 spurt to open the half behind six points from Jurkunas, who hit a long distance three and a conventional three-point play within the first three minutes of the period.

Clemson held the lead until the 8:04 mark when Brian Alexander scored on a rebound. But, that was the only lead of the second half for California. Jurkunas came right back and hit a three-point goal from the right wing, then Wideman scored off a pick-and-roll pass from McIntyre for a 58-55 lead. McIntyre completed the 8-0 run with a three-point goal from the right side.

Clemson still had an eight-point lead with 23 seconds left, but California would not die. Ethan O’Bryant scored a driving shot, then after Clemson missed a pair of free throws, Jacobson nailed a three-pointer to make it 69-66 with 10 seconds left.

But, McIntyre sealed the contest with a pair of free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining.