Clemson Looks To Make It Two In A Row

Feb. 19, 2001

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Clemson vs. Wake Forest Series

Wake Forest has an 86-49 lead in the series with Clemson overthe years. The Tigers have a 32-30 lead in games played at Clemson,while the Deacs have a 46-12 lead in games played at Wake Forest.Wake Forest also leads in neutral site games, 10-5. Clemson has an18-14 lead in games played at Littlejohn Coliseum. Wake Forest haswon five in a row and 18 of the last 23 overall. They have won 11in a row in Lawrence Joel Coliseum. Clemson is 12-46 lifetime atWake Forest, including 1-11 in games played in the Lawrence JoelColiseum. Clemson has lost 11 straight in the facility that wasopened for the 1989-90 season. Clemson won that game behind DaleDavis and Elden Campbell, 89-75, but the Tigers have not won since.Clemson has been within 10 points of Wake Forest in Joel Coliseumfour of the last five years, but has failed to gain victory.Clemson downed Wake Forest two of three games in 1997-98, by 25 atClemson and by 19 in the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro. Clemsonused dominant second halves in both victories. Wake Forest led atthe half in both games, including an eight-point margin in the ACCTournament game. But, Clemson outscored the Deacs 43-17 in the gameat Clemson and 43-16 in the game at Greensboro. Clemson hasstruggled offensively against Wake Forest in each of the last fivecontests with the Deacs, all Wake Forest victories. Clemson hasfailed to reach 70 points in each of the five games and hasaveraged just 61.7 points a game in that stretch. Clemson scored 63points in the Deacons eight point win earlier this year. Clemsonhas shot just 39.7 percent (102-257) from the field in the lastfive games combined against Wake Forest. This is the second timeClemson has had a five-game losing streak to Wake Forest in thelast five years. Clemson lost five in a row to the Deacs between1996 and 1998, then ended the streak with a 71-46 win at Clemson.The Tigers hope to end another five-game streak to the Deacs onWednesday. Wake Forest is one of three league teams that LarryShyatt is yet to beat. The others are Duke and Maryland. Shyattdoes have two wins over North Carolina, the winningest program inthe history of the league.

Earlier this Year… WakeForest 71, Clemson 63 Jan. 21, 2001 at Joel Coliseum Wake Forest forced 21 Clemson turnovers to offset a 30-point performance by ACC leading scorer Will Solomon and defeated the Tigers 71-63 on Jan. 21 at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC. Clemson fell for the 11th straight time at the Joel Coliseum. Wake Forest, ranked ninth in the USA Today Coach’s poll and 10th by AP heading into the game, improved to 14-3 with the victory.

Solomon made 9-17 shots from the field and 5-11 three-point attempts in registering his fourth 30-point game against a top 20 team this year. He had 17 points in the first half and 13 in the second half when he nearly brought Clemson all the way back from a 15-point deficit. Edward Scott had 10 points and seven assists, while Chris

Hobbs collected 13 rebounds in a season high 36 minutes of play. Clemson was without the services of starting center Adam Allenspach, who continued to miss playing time due to a back ailment. Wake Forest was led by Broderick Hicks, who scored a season high 18 points. He entered the game with just 12 made three-point goals, but hit 4-6 on long range in this game off the bench. Reserve A.W. Hamilton made 2-3 three-point shots to give support. Josh Howard added 16 points and 10 rebounds, the only player in the game to record a double-double.

Clemson was outstanding on offense to open the game. Clemson had a 20-11 lead in the first 8:10 of the contest as Solomon scored 13 of Clemson’s first 20 points. Clemson still had a 22-20 lead at the 8:45 mark. Wake Forest went on a 14-4 run and had a 36-27 lead at the 2:30 mark before the half. Clemson closed the gap to just three on a layup at the buzzer by Dustin Braddick.

Clemson hit a dry spell early in the second half and the Deacs opened the lead to 10 at the 14:24 mark. Clemson was 0-4 during the spurt and had five turnovers. Wake Forest moved the lead to 15 at 62-47 and still had a 64-50 lead at the 7:54 mark.

But, Clemson came back behind Solomon. He scored eight straight points to cut the margin to 64-58, then dove for a steal to give Clemson another possession with four minutes left. He then hit a three-point shot that would have cut the margin to three, but he was called for an offensive foul. It was a five-point game at 66-61 with 2:33 left, but Clemson could get no closer.

Clemson made 14 turnovers in the second half and for the game Wake Forest had a 31-13 advantage in points off turnovers. Wake Forest won the battle of the boards 40-31 and had a 15-6 advantage in second-chance points.

Last year at Clemson Wake Forest 67, Clemson 53 Jan. 9, 2000 at Clemson Wake Forest outscored Clemson 12-4 over the last 2:30 of the game and went on to a 67-53 win over the Tigers in Littlejohn Coliseum on Jan. 9, 2000. Clemson had cut the margin to 55-49 with 2:52 left on a three-point goal by Pasha Bains. But Darius Songaila scored six points in the final 2:30 to help the Deacons to the victory.

Clemson was led by Will Solomon with 26 points, five assists and just two turnovers. He also held Robert O’Kelley to 4-13 shooting on the defensive end of the court. It was another outstanding performance for the Clemson sophomore. He had 49 percent of the points against the Demon Deacons. Solomon was the only Tiger in double figures.

Adam Allenspach and Pash Bains added eight apiece for the Tigers. Allenspach also had a team best nine rebounds, while Andrius Jurkunas had eight rebounds, including five offensive.

Clemson struggled from the field, especially early. The Tigers scored just six points in the game’s first 13 minutes and were 3-21 from the field. The Tigers ended the first half 8-32 and trailed 26-18. The poor shooting was evident for both teams. In fact, at one point in the second half, Clemson was 12-41 and Wake Forest 13-41 from the field. Wake Forest held leads from 11 to 14 most of the second half.

Will Solomon kept Clemson in the game, he scored 14 of Clemson’s first 18 of the second half and scored 11 points in a row for Clemson at one juncture.

It was 51-38 with seven minutes left when Clemson made a run. The Tigers cut the margin to six, then later had a three-point shot that could have cut the margin to four, but Pasha Bains shot went off the rim.

Clemson made just 20-60 from the field, and that included just 4-23 from three-point land. The Tigers made 81.8 percent of their free throws, but the Deacons attempted 36 to just 11 for the Tigers. Clemson won the rebound battle 44-38.

Solomon Outstanding vs. Wake Forest Clemson guard Will Solomon has had some of his better games against Wake Forest, Clemson’s opponent at Littlejohn Coliseum on Wednesday night. Over his last three games against the Deacs, Solomon has scored 85 points, a 28.3 average. He has exceeded 25 points in each of those three games and has made 26-52 shots from the field, including 11-27 on three-point goals, 41 percent. He has also made 22-28 free throws, 78.6 percent.

Solomon’s overall average against the Deacons is just 17.0 points a game. His freshman year, playing behind Terrell McIntyre, Solomon played just seven total minutes in two games against Wake Forest and did not score. He had fivegames as a freshman in which he failed to score and two of them were against Wake Forest.

Last Time Out Clemson 75, #1 North Carolina 65 Feb. 18, 2001 at Littlejohn Coliseum 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. The were scored on consecutive Clemson possession 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 however 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 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.

How Shocking an Upset? Here are some facts on Clemson’s upset of #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18, 2001

Clemson had lost eight straight games, while North Carolina,ranked number-one in the nation, had won 18 in a row. NorthCarolina was first in the ACC standings with a perfect 11-0 record,while Clemson was last with a 1-10 mark. Clemson was coming off a34-point loss at N.C. State, its largest margin of defeat againstthe Pack since 1955. North Carolina had eight days to prepare forthe game. Clemson entered in the game with an eight-game losingstreak, its longest since 1971-72 when it had a nine-game losingstreak. North Carolina’s 18-game winning streak was the longest inthe nation and the Tar Heels longest since 1986-87. Clemson hadlost 19 in a row to the nation’s number-one ranked team dating toJan. 9, 1980, an 87-82 overtime victory against #1 Duke. Clemsonwas 1-22 lifetime against the number-one team in the nation headinginto the contest. Clemson had been 0-10 when playing a #1 rankedNorth Carolina team. Clemson had been 0-9 against top 25 teams andhad lost 12 in a row over ranked teams dating to last year’s winover 21st ranked North Carolina State. Clemson had been 1-12 thisyear when trailing at halftime. The Tigers trailed 35-30 athalftime of this game. It was just the third time since the 1952-53season that Clemson had trailed at the half against North Carolina,then came back to gain victory. Clemson had been 8-20 all-time ingames played on Feb. 18, Clemson’s worst winning percentage of the29 days in the month of February. Clemson had lost 12 straightgames over two years when it had just two or fewer players indouble figures. Clemson had just two, Will Solomon and TonyStockman, in the win over North Carolina. Matt Doherty had neverlost as a player or coach to Clemson, 10-0 as a player, 1-0 as acoach. North Carolina shot 38.5 percent from the field againstClemson, the Tar Heels’ worst field goal percentage of the season.Clemson entered the game allowing 47 percent field goal accuracy inACC play, seventh best in the league. North Carolina made just 8-26three-point goals, including just 1-14 in the second half. Clemsonentered the game eighth in the ACC in three-point goal percentagedefense in league play (.393).

Tigers From North Carolina Clemson is at the end of a four-game stretch in which it plays all four ACC teams from the state of North Carolina. The Wake Forest game on Wednesday will be Clemson’s eighth and final game against North Carolina Big Four schools this year.

This Clemson team does not mind going to the Tar Heel state because six of Clemson’s 16 roster players are from North Carolina. The list includes five scholarship players and one walk-on. Starters Dwon Clifton (Louisburg), Chris Hobbs (Chapel Hill) and Ray Henderson (Charlotte) are from North Carolina. Chucky Gilmore, a starter last year, who is out for the year with a torn ACL injury, is from Fayetteville. Walker Holt is a guard from Greensboro, while walk-on guard Wes Long is from Charlotte.

Clemson started an all North Carolina frontline in the win over North Carolina, certainly and exciting game for Henderson, Hobbs and Clifton. This is the largest contingent of North Carolina residents on the Clemson roster in history.

Hobbs, Stockman ACC All-Rookie Team Candidates Clemson currently has the top freshman scorer and top freshman rebounder in the ACC. Tiger reserve guard Tony Stockman paces the league’s freshmen in scoring with a 12.2 average, while classmate Chris Hobbs is the top freshman rebounder in the league with a 6.4 figure. Both are candidates for the ACC All-Rookie team this year. Both figured prominently in Clemson’s win over #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18. Solomon scored 16 points, including five in the last two minutes of the game, helping the Tigers to the 10-point Clemson win. He made four three-point goals in the contest, including one with 44 seconds left that iced the game. Hobbs was Clemson’s top rebounder in the game with eight and he scored six points on 3-4 shooting. Hobbs and Stockman scored seven of Clemson’s final 16 points.

The only Clemson freshman in history to lead ACC rookies in scoring is Skip Wise, who averaged 18.5 points a game in 1974-75. Only twice has Clemson had the top freshman rebounder in the league. Dale Davis did it in 1987-88 (7.7) and Tree Rollins did it in 1973-74 (12.2). Clemson has never had the top freshman scorer and rebounder in the ACC in the same year.

Only once in ACC history have two different freshmen from the same ACC team led the league’s rookies in scoring and rebounding. In 1989-90 Kenny Anderson led the ACC freshman in scoring with a 20.6 figure, while Malcom Mackey led the rookie rebounders with a 7.5 figure.

Both Hobbs and Stockman are among the league leaders in other areas as well. Stockman stands seventh in the league in three-point goal percentage and is seventh in three-point goals per game. He now has 55 for the season, a Clemson freshman record.

Hobbs stands 11th in the ACC in rebounds overall, but is sixth in ACC games. He is the only freshman in the ACC shooting at least 50 percent from the field and 70 percent from the foul line. He is shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 72 percent from the line through 24 games played.

Clemson also has received a strong contribution by Dwon Clifton a third freshman. The rookie from Louisburg, NC has started every ACC game this year, the only Tiger to do that. He is averaging 3.8 points per game overall, but is scoring at a 4.7 points per game figure in league contests. He has made 42 percent of his three-point goals in league play.

Hobbs and Stockman Chasing Freshman Records Clemson freshmen Tony Stockman are both chasing freshman records. Stockman already has one mark, his 55 three-point goals rank first among freshmen in Clemson history. Chris Hobbs .545 field goal percentage is second only to Elden Campbell’s .554 freshman mark. Stockman’s 84 percent free throw mark is third best. Here are the Clemson freshman records in some categories and the ranking of current Clemson freshmen.

Solomon Chasing Scoring Marks Sophomore guard Will Solomon is averaging 21.5 points per game. If the season ended today that would be the fifth best single season average in Clemson history, best since the 1969-70 season when Butch Zatezalo had a 21.7 average. Last year Solomon averaged 20.9 and is trying to join Zatezalo as the only Clemson players in history to have two different 20-point seasons. His 80 three-point goals this year already rank in a tie for fourth best season in Clemson history. He is also on track to break his own record for three-point goals per game.

Tickets on Sale The Clemson University Athletic Department Ticket Office is offering a limited number of group tickets for the following Men’s ACC Basketball games at $5.00 each. The minimum amount to order is twenty (20) per game. All group tickets are located in the Upper Arena of Littlejohn Coliseum.

The special offer will be available for the following games: Feb. 21, 2001 Wake Forest 7:00 PM March 3, 2001 Florida State 12:00 Noon

Contact Lynn Sparks at 864-656-4288 for group ticket information. Individual reserved seats are available for both the Wake Forest and Florida State games at $15 apiece.