Clemson Men’s Basketball Weekly Release

Jan. 15, 2001

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Most Recent Outing Clemson 72, NC State 69 Will Solomon scored 29 points, including 25 in the second half and all seven of Clemson’s points in the final 2:41, leading the Tigers to a 72-69 win over NC State on January 13. The victory was the first of the season in conference play for the Tigers, who have now won five of six against the Wolfpack. The win was the 10th of the year for the Tigers, equalling the win total of last last year for Larry Shyatt’s team.

Clemson improved dramatically on defense in its win over NC State. The Tigers had given up 219 points in their first two ACC games and had allowed 54 percent shooting. But, Clemson held the Pack to 29.9 percent shooting, tying for the best field goal percentage defense of the year, and best in an ACC game since February of 1998 when Florida State shot just 26.8 percent against the Tigers in Tallahassee.

Solomon scored 25 of Clemson’s 43 second half points, but he did have significant support from his teammates. Freshman forward Chris Hobbs had a double-double, accumulating 10 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes. Ray Henderson, who started at center in place of the injured Adam Allenspach, had 10 rebounds and eight points in 26 minutes. Edward Scott had 10 points and just two turnovers in 38 minutes running the point. Dwon Clifton had nine points on 4-6 shooting in 22 minutes.

Scott was a key on defense, holding Anthony Grundy, NC State’s top scorer and a 49 percent field goal shooter, to 6-27 shooting. Damien Wilkins shot just 1-10 against the Clemson defense. Kenny Inge led the Pack with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Pack made just 20-67 shots from the field, 8-32 on three-point goals. They entered the game shooting 42.5 percent on three-pointers. State played without Archie Miller, who was leading the nation in three-point percentage (.620) entering the contest.

The game was close throughout with few scoring runs. Over the first 35 minutes of the game the largest lead for either team was six points. The Pack had a 42-36 lead at the 16:05 mark when Kenny Inge made a conventional three-point play. The Tigers then went on a 20-8 run to take a 56-50 lead with 7:34 to play. Clemson expanded the lead to 60-52 at 5:53 when the Pack called timeout. Clemson’s largest lead was 65-56 with 3:22 to go.

But, NC State went on a 9-2 run, highlighted by a pair of three-point goals by Scooter Sherrill. Clemson led 71-69 with 16 seconds left, but Grundy was called for traveling with five seconds left. Solomon made one free throw and Clifford Crawford’s 40-foot three-point attempt missed at the buzzer.

Tigers From North Carolina Clemson is in the middle of a four-game stretch in which it plays all four ACC teams from the state of North Carolina. This week Clemson will travel to Chapel Hill to meet North Carolina, then on Sunday will play at Wake Forest. The Tigers played at Duke on January 7, its first ACC road game of the year. That means Clemson will play three of the North Carolina “Big Four” on the road within its first five league games.

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 Chris Hobbs (Chapel Hill) is also from the Tar Heel state. 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 NC State and that could be the case again at North Carolina. Larry Shyatt started Chris Hobbs at power forward and Ray Henderson at center against NC State. All three played well. Clifton had a season high nine points, hit 4-6 from the field, including an important three-pointer in the second half. Hobbs had his fourth double-double of the season, collecting 10 points, 11 rebounds in 28 minutes. Henderson had 10 rebounds and eight points in 26 minutes.

This is the largest contingent of North Carolina residents on the Clemson roster in history.

Tough Schedule for Clemson this Week 25-Year Anniversary of Top 5 Road Wins this Week Clemson has quite a challenge this week, playing a pair of top 10 ACC teams on the road. First Clemson plays at North Carolina on Wednesday, where it has lost 46 consecutive games dating to the early 1920s. Then, Clemson goes to Wake Forest, where it has not won since the 1989-90 season, Elden Campbell’s senior season.

Believe it or not, Clemson has beaten two top 10 ACC teams on the road in the same week. In fact, it was a pair of top five wins within a four-day period. Bill Foster, in his first two ACC road games as Clemson head coach, won at fifth ranked Wake Forest (86-81) and at second ranked Maryland (82-77) in consecutive games played January 17, 1976 and January 21, 1976, respectively. Those were in fact the first two Clemson road wins over top 20 teams in history. Clemson had a junior center named Tree Rollins who contributed greatly to those two wins. Those are two of the three top five road wins in Clemson history.

Clemson plays at North Carolina on January 17 and at Wake Forest on January 21, so this week’s games will be the exact 25-year anniversary of those two victories.

Clemson has 10 wins over ranked ACC teams on the road in its history.

Clemson has three wins over ranked teams on the road in the last six years with the last coming in the 1996-97 season at Maryland.

Clemson Out of the Basement Clemson has already reached its victory total of last year. In 1999-00, Clemson had a 10-20 ledger. Clemson has a 10-6 record heading into the North Carolina game. The Tigers earned their 10th win with the 72-69 victory over NC State on January 13th.

The win over NC State also moved Clemson out of the basement in the ACC standings for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Clemson got off to an 0-5 start last year and never got ahead of Georgia Tech or Florida State during the season. Clemson and Tech were tied at 4-11 heading into the last regular season game, but the Yellow Jackets won that game, moving Clemson to the number-nine seed for the tournament.

Entering this week, Clemson is in seventh place with a 1-2 mark. NC State and Florida State are both 0-3.

Defense Improved vs. NC State Clemson showed much improvement on defense in the win over NC State. The Pack made just 20-67 shots from the field, 29.9 percent. That tied for the best field goal percentage defense by the Tigers this year. Western Carolina was also 20-67 from the field. Clemson had allowed Duke and Maryland to score over 100 points and shoot over 53 percent from the field in its first two league games. State made just 8-32 three-point shots, 25 percent. They entered the game with Clemson shooting 42.5 percent on three-point shots, one of the top percentages in the nation.

Clemson opponents have shot just 40.8 percent from the field, 30.3 percent on three-point shots so far this season.

Allenspach Questionable for North Carolina Clemson’s only senior on the roster, Adam Allenspach, did not play in Clemson’s win over NC State. The 7-1 center, who has played 109 games in his Clemson career, missed the contest due to inflamation of the Sacroilliac Joint (where hip meeds the spine). The problem caused back spasms and a loss of motion and mobility. He is day to day and would be classified as questionable for both games this week.

Allenspach had surgery this past summer to repair a herniated disk. He has been troubled by the back problems off and on since last year. He first went down due to the injury last year at Duke when he collapsed just six minutes into the game due to the pain.

Allenspach has had many highlight moments this year. He is still among the league leaders in double-doubles with six. He had four in succession until the streak came to an end against Cincinnati during a game in Puerto Rico.

Allenspach had scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds vs. Wofford Dec. 16 and had 15 points and15 rebounds at South Carolina, then 20 points and 10 rebounds vs. Winthrop. The last Tiger to post four consecutive double-doubles was Sharone Wright, who last did it his sophomore year in 1992-93. Dale Davis once had double-doubles six games in a row his senior year in 1990-91.

For the season, Allenspach is still third on the club in scoring and first in rebounding. He has averaged 10.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per contest and leads the team in blocked shots with 12. For his career, he has averaged 6.6 points, 4.4 rebounds and has shot 70.1 percent from the foul line, one of the top percentages in history for a Clemson center.

Clemson vs. North Carolina Series North Carolina has dominated the series with Clemson. The Tar Heels have won just three in a row, but they have taken 13 of the last 15 overall. The Tigers won at Clemson in Larry Shyatt’s first year (1998-99), 78-63 and won in the ACC Tournament in 1996 on Greg Buckner’s dunk with 0.6 seconds left (75-73). That win in the 1996 ACC tournament was Clemson’s first over North Carolina in the state of North Carolina since 1967 (North-South Doubleheader in Charlotte).

Overall, North Carolina holds a 107-16 lead in the series that dates to a 48-24 North Carolina win in Chapel Hill in 1926. Clemson’s first win in the series took place 51 years ago, when Clemson upset North Carolina in the Southern Conference Tournament behind Banks McFadden, 44-43. Clemson’s only other win in the series before 1964 took place in Tigertown, 77-69 in 1952.

Clemson actually won four out of eight games played between 1964-67. The Tigers swept North Carolina in 1963-64. The road win was in Charlotte at the North-South Doubleheader, not in Chapel Hill. Clemson has defeated North Carolina in consecutive seasons just twice, 1978-79 and 1979-80 and 1888-89 and 1989-90.

Clemson is 12-31 against North Carolina in games played at Clemson, 0-46 in Chapel Hill and 4-30 in games played at neutral sites.

Last Year vs. North Carolina North Carolina 65, Clemson 45 Jan. 6, 2000 at Chapel Hill 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, 2000. 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.

Will Solomon was Clemson’s stop scorer with 13 points, the only double figure scorer for Clemson, but he shot just 5-19 from the field. 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 all 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.

North Carolina 73, Clemson 60 Feb. 6, 2000 at Clemson, SC North Carolina outscored Clemson 11-2 over the last three minutes of the game and went on to a 73-60 victory over Clemson and a sweep of the season series between the two longtime rivals. Clemson had trailed just 62-58 after two Edward Scott free throws at the 3:09 mark, but Clemson made just one of its last 12 shots from the field.

Will Solomon was outstanding for the Tigers, as the sophomore scored 26 of Clemson’s 60 points. He made 10-18 shots overall, including 6-7 three-point shots. It was the best three-point shooting percentage game of his career. The only three-point shot he missed was a forced attempt in the last minute of play.

Edward Scott had nine points, three assists and no turnovers. It was the second straight game without a turnover for Clemson’s freshman point guard. The Tigers had just six turnovers in the entire game, fewest by a Larry Shyatt coached Clemson team.

North Carolina placed all five starters in double figures. Ed Cota led the way with 17 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Jason Capel added 14 points, thanks in part to a career best 4-5 three-point shots. The Tar Heels made52.2 percent of their shots from the field, just the second opponent to hit the 50 percent mark against Clemson all year.

Clemson connected on 40 percent from the field, but the Tigers were 22 of their first 46 through 35 minutes of the contest. North Carolina won the battle of the boards 34-25, just the fourth time all year, the second by North Carolina, that Clemson had been beaten in rebounding.

North Carolina and Clemson were tied at 13-13 seven minutes into the game. The Tar Heels went on a 11-2 run over the next six minutes and led 24-15 with seven minutes left in the half. Clemson then cut the margin to 32-30 on a three-point goal by Will Solomon with 24 seconds left. But, Cota gave North Carolina momentum going into the locker room, hitting a three-pointer at the buzzer.

The Tar Heels took a 56-43 lead at the 10:26 mark in the second half before Clemson got back into the game. Clemson scored nine straight points and three three-point goals in four possessions to cut the margin to four at 56-52. Clemson cut it to two on a rebound goal by Andrius Jurkunas, but that was as close as Clemson got.

Clemson’s Last win over North Carolina Clemson 78, North Carolina 63 At Clemson in 1998-99 Clemson held North Carolina to just one three-point field goal over the last three minutes and road 25-point scoring by Terrell McIntyre in defeating 9th ranked North Carolina on Feb. 4, 1999. The 78-63 win was Clemson’s largest margin of victory over North Carolina since Jan.2, 1980 when the Tigers defeated a 6th ranked North Carolina team, 93-76.

McIntyre scored 25 points, including four three-point goals. One of the threes was a “catch and shoot” 22 footer with the shot clock near zero. That play was cited as the CNN Play of the Day.

McIntyre also had six assists and three steals in leading the Tigers to the victory. Tony Christie added a season high 15 points and became Clemson’s career leader in three-point goals by a forward. Harold Jamison was a third double figure scorer for Clemson with 11 points and he added seven rebounds and three steals. Tom Wideman had 10 rebounds, seven points and four assists.

Clemson won the rebounding battle, 39-28, including 18-7 on the offensive boards. North Carolina came into the game ranked number-one in the nation in rebound margin. The Tigers also had a +5 in terms of turnover margin, forcing 17 defensively and committing just 12 offensively.

The Tigers scored the first bucket of the game on a layup by Tom Wideman and never trailed. North Carolina tied the count at two, and that was the only tie of the game. It was the first time in history that Clemson had never even trailed in a game against the Tar Heels. Clemson had a 10-point lead in the first half at 31-21 and led 39-31 at intermission. Andrius Jurkunas hit a three-point goal with four seconds left to send Clemson into the locker room with momentum.

North Carolina cut the lead to four in the second half at 45-41, but the Tigers went on a 10-0 run to take a 55-41 advantage. It reached 15 with 12:38 left on a three-point goal by McIntyre. North Carolina got to within seven points on a three-point goal with 2:25 left by Ronald Curry, but that was North Carolina’s only points in the last three minutes. Clemson went on an 8-0 to close the game.

Clemson in Chapel Hill

Clemson is 0-46 in games against North Carolina played inChapel Hill, including 0-15 at the Smith Center. North Carolina hasan average margin of victory of 21 points per game in its 46 winsin Chapel Hill over the Tigers. They have defeated Clemson by anaverage of 22.3 points per game since 1981-82, the last timeClemson came within five points of victory (77-72). Clemson hasbeen within 10 points of the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill just oncesince 1981-82, a 88-79 loss in 1997-98, Rick Barnes last year atClemson. The 1992-93 contest was was a recent game Clemson had achance to gain victory. Clemson trailed by just five points, 70-65with under four minutes left. Chris Whitney scored eightthree-point goals, including seven in the second half to lead theClemson charge. But, North Carolina went on a 10-2 run to end thegame and won, 80-67. Whitney had 24 points in the game and SharoneWright added 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots.Clemson has come within five points of the Tar Heels in Chapel Hillon five occasions (24-23 in 1935-36, 61-60 in 1973-74, 74-72 in1974-75, 73-70 in 1979-80, and 77-72 in 1981-82). The closestClemson has come in the Smith Center is 9 points, 88-79 in the1997-98 game. That was a strange contest in that Clemson ended thegame with just four players on the court. Six Tigers had fouledout. Clemson actually outscored North Carolina over the 70-secondperiod (8-6) in which it had just four players. Terrell McIntyremade a pair of three pointers during the stretch when Clemson hadjust four players on the court (and thus led the nation inshort-handed goals for the season). The largest lead Clemson hasever had in a game at Chapel Hill is16 points, 30-14 in the firsthalf of the 1974-75 game. The latest lead Clemson has ever had in agame in Chapel Hill also took place in the 1974-75 contest. TheTigers held a 72-71 advantage until Walter Davis hit a jumpshotwith 18 seconds left. North Carolina won 74-72 despite 25 points byClemson’s Skip Wise. Clemson’s largest halftime lead in Chapel Hillalso came in 1974-75 when the Tigers had a 41-36 advantage. Clemsonhas had the lead at the half just three times in the previous 46games against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. Clemson also held a28-27 lead at intermission in 1998-99 and had a 35-33 lead atintermission in 1981-82. Clemson has entered the game in ChapelHill as the higher ranked team just twice in the history of theseries. In 1996-97, Clemson entered a game in Chapel Hill with thehigher national ranking than the Tar Heels. Clemson was second inAP and North Carolina was 19th heading into that game. NorthCarolina won that contest, 61-48. The Tigers were ranked 12th andNorth Carolina 13th for the 1980 game in Chapel Hill. North Carlinawon that contest 73-70. In 1998-99, both teams were ranked in thetop 15 entering the contest, but North Carolina was ninth andClemson was 14th. The last time Clemson came within five points ofthe Tar Heels in Chapel Hill came in 1981-82, ironically, aNational Championship season for the Tar Heels. The Tigers had a54-45 lead with 10 minutes left against a James Worthy, Sam Perkinsand Michael Jordan led North Carolina team, before losing 77-72. AJames Worthy steal and dunk was the turning point in that game.Clemson was led by Vincent Hamilton with 20 points on 8-11shooting. Clemson held Worthy to seven points, Sam Perkins to just11 and Michael Jordan to 14. Jimmy Black and Matt Doherty had 21apiece for the Tar Heels. The Tigers are 4-68 against NorthCarolina in games played in the state of North Carolina. Thatstreak is not long because Clemson won the 1996 ACC Tournament gamein Greensboro between the two teams , 75-73. Greg Buckner’s dunkwith 0.6 seconds left won the game for the Tigers. The othervictories over North Carolina in the Tar Heel state came in1966-67, when Clemson beat a #4 UNC team in Charlotte at theNorth-South Doubleheader by a 92-88 score, in 1963-64 by a 97-90count, also at the North-South Doubleheader in Charlotte, in1938-39, in a 44-43 win in Raleigh at the Southern ConferenceTournament.

Streak Not Longest in NCAA History North Carolina’s 46-game winning streak over Clemson in Chapel Hill is not the longest in NCAA history. It is not even the longest active streak. Brown has lost 50 straight games at Princeton dating to 1929. The third longest active home court winning streak is UCLA over Washington State. Washington State has lost 45 straight at UCLA, including UCLA’s 75-57 victory this year on January 6. Mississippi had a 41-game losing streak at Kentucky between 1929 and 1996.

Brown travels to Princeton this year on Feb. 2.

Clemson Wins over Ranked Tar Heel Teams Clemson defeated a ninth ranked North Carolina team in Littlejohn Coliseum, 78-63 in 1998-99, Larry Shyatt’s first season. That was Clemson’s largest margin of victory over the Tar Heels since the 1979-80 season. It was Clemson’s first regular season win over North Carolina since the 1993-94 season.

Clemson has 68 career wins over AP Top 20 teams and 10 of them are against North Carolina teams. Clemson also has 10 wins over ranked Duke teams over the years for its high total in that category.

Of course, North Carolina has been ranked coming into a game with Clemson more than any other team. Twice Clemson has beaten a second-ranked North Carolina team, both games were played at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson downed a second ranked North Carolina team 66-61 in 1978-79 and defeated a second-ranked Tar Heel team in 1993-94, 77-69.

Hobbs Returns to Chapel Hill Clemson forward Chris Hobbs is a native of Chapel HIll, NC and a graduate of East Chapel Hill High. He will return to his hometown Wednesday night to face the Tar Heels. It is actually the second time in 10 days he will be playing near his home. He played at Cameron Indoor Stadium against Duke on January 7. Hobbs was one of the top players in North Carolina as a junior averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds per game. But, he suffered a torn ACL as a senior and played just two games.

Larry Shyatt stayed with the youngster and the faith in Hobbs is paying dividends. So far this year, Hobbs has averaged 6.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He has already had four double-doubles, including his first conference game against Maryland on January 2 when he had 11 points and 10 rebounds. He is coming off a double-double against NC State. Hobbs had 11 points and 15 rebounds in a victory over The Citadel on November 25, and had13 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Northwestern on November 28. Hobbs has four double doubles and has not played over 28 minutes in any of the games.

His first double-double came in just the third game of Hobbs career, the shortest time it has taken a Clemson freshman to record a double-double since Devin Gray had 26 points and 10 rebounds in his second career game in 1991-92. Tree Rollins and Elden Campbell actually had double-doubles in their first game at Clemson. In fact, Rollins, one of two Tigers to have his number retired, had 22 points, 20 rebounds and nine blocked shots against St. John’s in his first game, nearly a triple double. Rollins holds the school record for career double-doubles with 62. Dale Davis had 52.

Hobbs is shooting 53 percent from the field so far this year, second best on the Clemson team. His 74 percent free throw shooting accuracy is third behind guards Will Solomon and Tony Stockman, and his 5.9 rebound figure is second to starting center Adam Allenspach’s 7.6 per game.

His father, Greg Hobbs, is a videographer for Duke Medical Center. In his spare time, he has served as a videographer for Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s television show. Many times Chris tagged a long to watch the game.

Winning in the Triangle Over the years Clemson’s basketball team has viewed traveling to the North Carolina Triangle like sailors view boating through the Bermuda Triangle. Clemson had won just nine regular season games in 135 contests at North Carolina, N.C. State and Duke heading into the 1994-95 season. Since that year Clemson has a 5-13 record at Duke, N.C. State and North Carolina combined, so the mark is now 14-137 at those three sites combined. That includes a loss at Duke this year. Clemson plays at NC State on Valentine’s Night.

The 1994-95 season was the first time in Clemson history that the Tigers had won their first two games in the Triangle and it was just the second time Clemson had won at least two games in the Triangle in the same year. Clemson also won at Duke and N.C. State in 1976-77, Tree Rollins’ senior season. Clemson has never won at North Carolina and obviously has never swept all three games in the North Carolina Triangle.

Clemson’s overall record in the North Carolina Triangle, including conference tournments (ACC or Southern) is now is 23-157. Cliff Ellis won in the Triangle just twice in 30 games, both at N.C. State (1986-87 and 1993-94, his last appearance in the triangle). Bill Foster has five of the 14 regular season Clemson wins in the Triangle. Rick Barnes had four triangle wins in his four years as head coach. Larry Shyatt defeated NC State in Raleigh last year.

Clemson has a lifetime record of 10-41 at N.C. State, 4-50 at Duke and 0-46 at North Carolina in regular season play.

The list below does not count ACC or Southern Conference Tournament games played in Raleigh. Clemson has won nine games in conference tournaments in Raleigh, including its most successful Southern Conference and ACC Tournaments in history. Clemson won the Southern Conference Tournament in Raleigh in 1939, its only conference tournament championship in history. In 1962 the Tigers advanced to the finals of the ACC Tournament at the Reynolds Coliseum with victories over N.C. State and Duke. It is Clemson’s only appearance in the ACC Tournament Championship game.

Scott Running the Offense Clemson point guard Edward Scott has scored in double figures in each of his last two games and three of his last four. He has averaged 10.3 points a game during the four game stretch. He has a 6.8 career average. Scott has improved his offensive production of late, hitting 9 of his last 25 three-point goals (.360) after hitting just one of his first 19 threes to open the season.

Scott has done a good job running the Clemson offense. He has 75 assists and 40 turnovers. He has already surpassed his assist total for all of last year when he had 69 assists in 789 minutes. This year he has 75 assists in 520 minutes. Overall, Scott has five double figure scoring games this year, he had five all of last year.

The native of Eastover, SC (near Columbia) has improved his assist/turnover ratio from 1.30 to 1.88 so far this year. He has had more assists than turnovers in 14 of the 16 games. He has averaged a turnover every 13 minutes of play so far this year, a solid figure for a point guard who plays 32 minutes per game.

Solomon Productive in the Second Half Will Solomon still leads the ACC in scoring with a 21.9 average. He ranked 14th in the nation last week. NCAA stats were not released as of this writing. Solomon was also eighth in the nation in three-point goals per game with a 3.4 average.

Solomon is coming off a 29-point performance against NC State. He scored 25 points in the second half, the third highest half of his career. Solomon is a player who likes the second half. He has nine career games in which he has scored at least 20 points and all nine have been in the second half of games. Four times he has scored at least 20 points in a half this year. He had 24 in the second half against Seton Hall, 21 in the second half against Cincinnati and 20 in the second half against Washington.

This year, Solomon has averaged 8.5 points in the first half and 13.5 points in the second half. Last year he averaged 7.8 in the first half and 13.0 in the second half. His highest scoring half as a Tiger is 29, the total he had in the second half against Virginia last year when he scored 43, his career high. He scored 26 in the second half of a 37-point effort against Penn State last year.

Solomon is ahead of his national finishes of last year. As a sophomore, Solomon averaged 20.9 points a game, good enough for 16th in the nation. He was 17th in three-point goals per game last year with a 3.2 figure. Solomon’s scoring ranking of 16 last year was the best by a Clemson player since 1968-69 when Butch Zatezalo was 14th in the country with a 25.8 mark. The highest scoring ranking in history for a Clemson individual is fourth. The late Bill Yarborough was fourth in 1954-55 with a 28.3 figure.

Solomon Improved over Last Year Clemson guard Will Solomon was named first-team All-ACC last year as a sophomore, the first Clemson guard to be named first team in 20 years, the first sophomore or freshman to earn first-team honors from Clemson in 25 years. Based on his production so far this year, he will again be a strong candidate for the honor. No Clemson player in history has ever been first-team All-ACC in two different seasons.

Solomon has shown improvement in just about every area this year, including scoring and all three of the shooting percentages. He has done it while playing less time (36 minutes a game last year to 34 minutes a game this year). Additionally, his assist/turnover ratio is improved. As he did last year, his stats in ACC games are better than in non-conference games.

Solomon Moving up Career Lists Will Solomon had two three-point goals in the win over NC State and moved into second place on the Clemson all-time list in the process. The Tiger junior has 169 for his career, including a league best 50 this year. Terrell McIntyre is the career leader with 259.

Solomon has made 50-128 three-point goals this year, 39 percent. He is now hitting 36.7 percent for his Clemson career in that area and has made at least three three-point goals in 11 of his 15 games so far this season. He had a season high seven three-point goals against Maryland in the ACC opener, one off the Clemson single game record. That is a record is he co-holds with Terrell McIntyre, Chris Whitney and David Young.

Solomon now has 1169 career points, 19th best in school history. He needs three points to move into 18th place ahead of Randy Mahaffey, the highest scoring of the four Mahaffey brothers to play for Clemson. If Solomon averages 20 points a game over the course of the rest of the regular season he will move into the top 10 in Clemson history. With his recent six-game streak of 20-point games, he now has 25 for his career, ninth in Clemson history. Seven of those 25 games he has scored at least 30, including three times this year. His career high is 43 against Virginia at Littlejohn Coliseum last year.

Solomon Had 6 Straight 20-point Games Clemson guard Will Solomon scored at least 20 points in six consecutive games between December 20 to January 2. The junior from East Hartford, CT averaged 26.2 points a game during the six games. The streak was stopped at Duke when he was held to 13 points by 6-6 Blue Devil forward Nate James.

Solomon talled 32 points in two of the games in the streak, both against ranked opponents. He had 32 in an eight-point loss to 20th ranked Cincinnati and also had 32 in Clemson’s 12-point loss to 17th-ranked Maryland. Playing well against top opposition is nothing new for Solomon. Last year he had a higher scoring average in ACC games than in non-conference contests. In four games this year against ranked teams he has averaged 25.3 points per game.

Solomon’s streak of six consecutive 20-point games was the longest since Horace Grant had six straight during the 1986-87 season, the year he became Clemson’s only ACC MVP. Grant’s streak was stopped by North Carolina when he scored 19.

The Clemson record for consecutive 20-point games is 19, held by the late Bill Yarborough. He scored at least 20 in the last three games of 1953-54 and the first 16 of the 1954-55 season. Yarborough averaged 28.3 points a game in 1954-55 and scored at least 20 in every game. His only non-20 point game was an 18-point outing.

Solomon has already established one Clemson streak record this year. He has scored in double figures in 45 straight games, every game last year and all 15 games he has played so far this season. The previous mark was by Vince Yockel, who had 36 in a row over two seasons in the 1950s. Solomon’s current 45-game streak is the longest active streak in the ACC. The ACC record book does not have a listing for consecutive games of double figure scoring. North Carolina’s Larry Miller had a 64-game streak in the 1960s.

Solomon Named to All-Tournament Team Junior guard Will Solomon scored 82 points in the three games in San Juan to be named to the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team. Solomon had 26 points in the Tigers lone win of the classic, a 94-81 decision over Florida Atlantic. He followed it up with a season-best 32 points in the 88-80 loss to #20 Cincinnati and 24 in the loss to Washington.

Solomon averaged 27.3 points per game, he shot 25-56 from the field, including 14-32 on three-point shots. He was 18 of 21 from the charity stripe (85.7 percent). Solomon also had nine assists, six steals and two blocks (both against Washington) in the three games.

Clemson Could Break Record for Ranked Opponents Clemson has played four top 20 opponents so far this year and Clemson is 0-4 in those games. But, the Tigers have played well in three of those games, having a chance to win each contest with under two minutes left. Clemson lost to 10th ranked Seton Hall 79-78 on November 21 in the second game of the season, then lost to 20th ranked Cincinnati by 88-80 on December 21 in San Juan. Maryland, ranked 17th at the time, downed the Tigers, 104-92 on January 2. Third ranked Duke defeated Clemson 115-74 on January 7.

Clemson had the ball for a final shot to beat Seton Hall. Clemson trailed by just two against Cincinnati with four minutes left, and by just six with two minutes left. Clemson trailed Maryland by just four (96-92) with two minutes remaining.

Playing against top flight competition will be the norm this year. The ACC is filled with top 20 teams and it appears Clemson will play at least 10 conference games against ranked teams. Combined with the two non-conference games against top 20 teams, Clemson should play 12 regular season games this year against top 20 teams. That would be a first in Clemson history if that happens.

Clemson has played 10 top 20 teams in a season four previous years. It first took place in 1979-80 when Clemson had a 6-4 record against top 20 teams on the way to a NCAA Final Eight finish. Clemson also played 10 top 20 teams in 1980-81, 1994-95 and 1996-97.

The record for most top 25 teams played in a season is 13, set in 1996-97. Clemson had a 5-8 record against ranked teams that year. That was Larry Shyatt’s last season as associate head coach at Clemson.

Clemson been known to upset ranked teams in the past. Clemson has 68 win over ranked teams (AP or USA Today/Coach’s), including at least one every year since 1986-87. Clemson had one win over a ranked team last year, a 59-42 win over 21st ranked NC State in a game played at Clemson.

The schedule does not get any easier for Clemson next week. The Tigers will be on the road to face two teams who will be in the top 10 at gametime. Clemson plays at North Carolina on Wednesday and at Wake Forest on Sunday.

Stockman Wins Paw Competition Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt has created an individual competition within his team that is geared toward improving the team’s overall performance. He has devised a system for earning “Tiger Paws” throughout the year. He has divided the season into three parts, pre-ACC, ACC regular season, and postseason.

Players can earn Tiger Paws by individual hustle plays, deflections, taking charges, reaching a minimum amount of rebounds, field goal shooting, three-point and free throw percentage minimums or making a game-winning play. Each member of the team receives a paw when certain team goals are reached within a game.

For the pre-ACC part of the schedule, the champion was Edward Scott had 18 and Adam Allenspach had 17. Everyone started fresh with the ACC regular season schedule.

Individual Goals in earning a Paw 1. Hustle Plays–must accumulate a total of 10 of the following in a game: first to the floor, charges taken, ball pressure deflection, steal or blocked shot. 2. Rebounding–Must have 8 rebounds for a forward or center, 4 rebounds for a wing or guard. 3. Assist/turnover ratio–Must have a 2/1 ratio for a forward or center, 3/1 for a guard or wing. 4. Shooting Percentages–Must shoot 50 percent field the field (min 4 attempts), 40 percent on three-point shots (min 3 attempts), 80 percent from the foul line (min of 3 attempts). 5. Cluch performance–Making a game winning play on offense or defense.

Stockman Scores 23, Nets ACC Honors Freshman guard Tony Stockman scored a season best 23 points in his first collegiate start on Dec. 16 against Wofford. The effort, which also included three rebounds, three assists and three steals, earned Stockman ACC Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 18. Stockman connected on 9 of 17 shots from the field, including a 4 of 7 mark from long range. The 23 points were the most points by a Clemson freshman since Terrell McIntyre scored 29 points in a home win over Florida State on Feb. 17, 1996.

Stockman has shown an ability to score in the clutch. Against Charleston Southern, he scored 14 of the Tigers final 23 points, including six points in the final five minutes of play.

Stockman ranks second on the Clemson team in that stat. In games decided by 10 points or less, he has scored a total of 17 points in the final five minutes of those games, second to Will Solomon’s 21.

For the year, Stockman is second on the team in scoring with a 12.5 average, even though he has played just 25.4 minutes per game. His 38 three-point goals rank second on the Clemson team and his 84 percent free throw shooting is best.

Stockman is having the best season by a Clemson freshman guard since Terrell McIntyre in 1995-96. In some ways, Stockman’s stats are even better. And, he has averaged six less minutes per game than McIntrye played as a freshman. The following is a comparison:

Freshmen of Influence Clemson’s freshman class for the 2000-01 season was ranked among the best in the nation. It has certainly had an impact on this year’s team. Andrius Jurkunas has the record with 51 in 1995-96.

Chris Hobbs has four double-doubles so far this year fifth in the ACC in that area. The freshman from Chapel Hill has averaged 5.8 rebounds per game, among the top three figures in the ACC. Hobbs has averaged 76.2 points a game and his rebound average (5.9) is second best on the Clemson team behind Adam Allenspach. His .528 field goal percentage is also second on the team. He had a double-double in his first ACC game, 11 points and 10 rebounds against Maryland on January 2. He had another against an ACC opponent in the win over NC State on January 13. His 15 rebounds in the win over The Citadel were the most by a Clemson freshman since Tom Wideman had 17 at NC State in 1995-96.

Finally, Dwon Clifton, a freshman from Louisburg, NC, has moved into the starting lineup. He is averaging 3.5 points and 2.6 rebounds per game. He is a capable rebounder, as his 12 rebounds against Washington showed this year. He had a season high nine pointson 4-6 shooting in the win over NC State.

Free Throw Shooting at a 14-year High One area of improvement for Clemson this year is free throw shooting. The Tigers have made 70.4 percent from the foul line this year. Clemson has not been a good free throw shooting team over the years. In fact, no Clemson team has bettered 70 percent over a season since 1986-87 when Horace Grant was a senior, helping the Tigers to a 71.6 percentage. The closest Clemson has come to a 70 percent season from the line was 1994-95 when the Tigers finished at .696. Clemson has made at least two thirds of its free throws just four of the last 13 seasons.

If the season ended today, Clemson’s .704 figure would be the best since the 1986-87 season and the ninth best in history. The Clemson record for free throw shooting took place in 1981-82 when Bill Foster’s Tigers made .734 of their free throws.

Clemson has had balance from the line this year. Chris Hobbs, who gets to the line often, has made .740 from the line. Edward Scott is at 73.3 percent. Center Adam Allenspach, a 74 percent shooter from the line last year, is a 66.1 so far this year.

Clemson ranks third in the ACC in free throw shooting. No Clemson team in history has ever led the ACC in free throw shooting.

Clemson Offensive Numbers Up The Tigers are trying to run a more up-tempo offense this season, and are averaging 78.7 points per game this year, up from the 64.4 scoring average of last year. Clemson has not averaged at least 79 points a game since the 1989-90 season when Clemson’s only ACC championship team in history averaged 79.3 a game.

The 94 points Clemson posted against Florida Atlantic were the most scored in the Larry Shyatt era at Clemson, besting the 92 points the team scored against Georgia Tech in 1999. The 94 points against Florida Atlantic were the most scored by the Tigers since Clemson won 102-67 against Western Carolina in 1998. Clemson added a 92-point outing against Maryland in the first ACC game.

Clemson has scored at least 80 points in eight games this year, including three in a row at one point. Clemson reached the 80 point mark just twice all of last year and just eight times in 35 games Shyatt’s first season at Clemson.

So far this year Clemson has three players averaging in double figures. Clemson had just two games all of last year in which they had four players score in double figures. Will Solomon and Adam Allenspach were Clemson’s only two players to average in double figures last year.

Solomon and Allenspach are joined by freshman Tony Stockman in double figures this season. The Tigers had at least three players score in double digits in every game this season up until the Washington game when only Solomon and Allenspach scored more than 10 points. The Tigers got back on track vs. Charleston Southern with four players in double figures. Clemson has had seven games in which four players have scored in double figures. That happened just twice all of last year.

Clemson’s shooting percentage is 44 percent, up from 40.4 last year. What is most impressive is the team’s free throw shooting. The Tigers have made 70.4 percent so far this year, up from 67.1 last year.

Former Tiger Saves Nearly 400 Lives Former Clemson forward Clarke Bynum was in the national news on December 30. The native of Sumter, SC saved the lives of 379 passengers on a British Airways flight from London to Nairobi, Kenya. Bynum, asleep two rows from the cockpit, was jolted awake when the plane went into a nosedive. The pilots were screaming for help and Bynum came to the rescue.

He wrestled a madman to the floor, allowing the pilots to straighten out the plane. The man apparently wanted to kill himself and everyone in the plane. Later, the pilots told Bynum the plane was just three seconds from crashing. Bynum, 39, is an insurance agent and was traveling to Uganda with a small interdenominational organization called the African Christian Trust Service.

Bynum’s heroics were documented in USA Today and other national news agencies and he was interviewed by Good Morning America and the Today Show.

Bynum lettered four seasons for the Tigers from 1980-84. He started 23 games and played in 92 games overall for his career. He averaged 5.0 points and 2.1 rebounds, shot 73 percent from the foul line and 45 percent from the field. He started the first nine games of the 1980-81 season, a Clemson team that finished the year with 20 wins and an NIT bid. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week for the last week of the regular season that year, then scored 14 points in the NIT game against Temple. He had his best game as a Tiger against Austin Peay on December 2, 1981 when he had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Bynum played his best basketball for Clemson during the team’s eight-games in the FIBA International World Cup in Spain in the summer of 1981. He averaged a team best 20 points per game and shot 58 percent from the field for the tournament. He scored 30 points against tournament champion Real Madrid.

It is interesting to note that Bynum’s host on his recruiting visit to Clemson the fall of 1979 was Bobby Conrad. Conrad, Clemson’s senior point guard that year, has also been in the news in the last year, serving as Chief of the United States Department Financing Task Force, an appointment made by Attorney General Janet Reno.

Clemson has Shown Comeback Ability Clemson has shown an ability to comeback from large deficits so far this year. In fact, in consecutive victories on December 28-30, Clemson overcame deficits of at least 15 points to gain victory. That is the first time in history Clemson has been down 15 at some point, then gained victory in consecutive games.

The Tigers trailed Charleston Southern 24-9 on December 28, then rallied for an 87-77 win. Two days later at Coastal Carolina, Clemson trailed 37-19 in the first half, and 41-28 at intermission. Clemson won that contest 81-68. Clemson has play-by-plays on a consistent basis back to the 1977-78 season. That was the third best Clemson comeback on record, topped only by a 20-point comeback against The Citadel in 1978-79 and a 19-point comeback in the NCAA Tournament against LaSalle in 1990.

Seven times since the 1977-78 season Clemson has overcome a 15-point deficit to gain victory. Two of the seven have taken place this season, and they were executed just 48 hours apart.

In four other games this year Clemson has trailed by doubledigits, then rallied to take the lead or come within two pointslate in the game before losing. In the second game of the yearClemson trailed a top 10 Seton Hall team 61-50 with 11:18 left,then took a 76-74 lead with3:04 remaining before losing 79-78.Clemson trailed a 20th ranked Cincinnati team 58-40 with 13:08left, then cut the margin to 71-69 with 4:38 left. Clemson trailedWashington by 13 points, 56-43 with 13:00 left, then rallied totake a 68-64 lead before losing in overtime. Clemson trailed 17thranked Maryland 24-14 in the first seven minutes, rallied to take a73-71 lead in the second half before losing 104-92. Clemson was sixpoints down in the second half against NC State, then came back towin by three points.

Non-Conference Wrapup After 12 non-ACC games a year ago, Clemson was 6-6 heading into league action. This year, the Tigers are a much healthier team and thus a much deeper team and have played a more competitive schedule. Clemson went 9-4 in the non-conference portion of the schedule having prepared for the ACC race by facing teams from the Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Pac-10 and the Southeastern Conference.

Clemson opened with a win over Hartford (86-67) and then played a 10th-ranked Seton Hall team to a one-point loss (79-78). The Tigers rebounded with four consecutive wins against The Citadel (84-76), Northwestern (57-44) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Western Carolina (87-52) and Winthrop (69-59). Clemson had not won more than two games in a row all of last year and that happened just one time.

South Carolina halted the brief streak with a 76-62 victory that ended its six-game losing streak against Clemson. The Tigers then beat Wofford78-74 before finished fifth in the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic with a win against Florida Atlantic (94-81) and losses to 20th-ranked Cincinnati (88-80) and Washington (77-76). Clemson had pulled within two points of Cincinnati with 4 1/2 minutes to play and the loss to Washington came in overtime on a buzzer shot.

The Tigers beatCharleston Southern 87-77 December 30 at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, and won 81-68 at Coastal Carolina in a game played at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on the final day of the Beach Ball Classic.

Shyatt to Coach in Maccabiah Games Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt has been selected to coach the United States team in the 2001 Maccabiah Games in Israel. The games will be held next July 7-27. Shyatt has already started his preparation for the Games and had an August camp in New York for prospective players, who will mainly be players of Jewish heritage from college programs at all NCAA levels.

The team will hold a pre-tournament camp at Clemson this summer prior to going to Israel. For more information on the team and the tournament, contact Andy Solomon at The Citadel. He will be the press officer for the team for the event.

Shyatt is in his third year as Clemson’s head coach, his fourth as a Division I head coach overall. He led Wyoming to a 19-9 record and the NIT in 1997-98. In his first year at Clemson he took the Tigers to the NIT Championship game, a first in Clemson history. The Tigers won 20 games that year and Shyatt became just the fourth coach in ACC history to win 20 games in his first year at a league school. Last year Clemson had a 10-20 record. Six players missed a combined 26 games due to injury during last year.

Shyatt has coached the ACC scoring champion each of his two years at Clemson. Terrell McIntyre led the league with a 17.9 average in 1998-99, then Will Solomon paced the conference with a 20.9 mark last year. Solomon continues to lead the league this year.

Shyatt is in his second tour of duty at Clemson. He was Rick Barnes top assistant from 1994-95 through the 1996-97 season. His last year he helped the Tigers to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and a #8 final national ranking in the USA Today poll, the highest final ranking in Clemson history.

Phillips Ranks In Vitale’s “Sweet 16” Clemson Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Phillips received yet another award for his expertise behind the microphone. He was recognized by Dick Vitale on his web site as one of his top 16 broadcasters around the country “The All-Cawood Ledford Team”, in honor of the legendary Kentucky broadcaster.

“They are the radio voices for their respective universities, and they know everything about those teams inside and out,”Vitale said. “They certainly follow the national scene too. Whenever I want a bit of information, I make sure I chat with many of these people.”

The Youngstown, OH native is in his 33rd season behind the mic for the Clemson basketball team, a span that covers nearly 1,000 games. He has broadcast 387 Clemson football games and 955 Clemson basketball games.

Phillips is past president of the Atlantic Coast Conference Sportswriters Association. He is a five-time winner of the Sportscaster of the Year award in South Carolina. Six years ago, he was given the highest award a broadcaster in the state of South Carolina can receive. He was just the third recipient of the Master Broadcaster Award given by the South Carolina Broadcaster’s Association.

Gilmore Has Torn ACL, Will Miss Season Starting Clemson forward Chucky Gilmore sustained a torn ACL on his right knee during a workout on Aug. 28. Examination by Clemson physicians revealed that Gilmore must have surgery to repair the injury. It is the second injury sustained by Gilmore since the end of last season. He sprained his medial collateral ligament on his left knee in May while playing in a pickup game in his hometown of Fayetteville, NC.

Gilmore, a 6-8 forward, started 23 games and played in 27 of Clemson’s 30 contests a year ago. He averaged 3.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last year. The rebound average was second best on the Clemson team.

Clemson Announces Four Men’s Basketball Signees Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt announced the signing of four players to national letters of intent during the early signing period. The Clemson newcomers for the 2001-02 season include Sharrod Ford, a 6-9, 210-pound forward from Accokeek, MD, Olu Babalola, a 6-6, 245-pound forward from London, England, Chey Christie, a 6-4, 170-pound wing player from Biloxi, MS, and 6-10 Steve Allen, a center from Fort Lauderdale, FL.

“We are excited to add these quality players to our program,” said Shyatt, who is in his third year as Clemson’s Head Coach. “We covered some important needs. It is a balanced class with one player at each area of the team. This gives us back-to back top 20 recruiting classes and gives us some depth as we look to the future.” Hoop Scoop currently ranks Clemson’s class as #11 in the country.

Christie is the brother of former Clemson starting forward Tony Christie. One of the top scorers in the state of Mississippi, he is currently at Biloxi High School in Biloxi, MS. He opened his senior season with a 30-point game. Last year as a junior, Christie averaged 25.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He shot 55 percent from the field and 78 percent from the foul line. He is ranked as the 37th best player in the nation according to Hoop Scoop.

Babalola is a native of London, England, but is playing at St. Augustine Prep in Richland, NJ this year. Last year he averaged 18.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game. He shot 58 percent from the field and averaged 2.8 rebounds a game. He was a third-team All-State selection in New Jersey last year.

Ford is an inside player at Hargrave Military academy in Chatham, VA. He played his previous four years at Gwynn Park High in Brandywine, MD. Last year he shot 58 percent from the field, averaged 15.8 points and 11.9 rebounds per game. He also blocked 6.6 shots per game, including a season high of 11 in one game. He was named a first-team All-Metro selection by the Washington Post.

Allen averaged 12.3 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots a game at Dillard High School. He was a first-team all-county and all-conference player. He shot 59 percent from the field and 72 percent from the foul line as a junior.

Five Former Tigers in the NBA Five former Clemson players are currently on NBA rosters. Four of the five would be considered starters for their respective teams. The list of former Tigers in the pros is led by Horace Grant, who is in his 14th year in the league. He is a starting forward with the Los Angeles Lakers and is the only former Tiger to win an NBA Championship ring. He did that with the Chicago Bulls 1991-92-93.

Dale Davis and Elden Campbell led Clemson to the ACC regular season championship in 1990 and they are both still starters in the NBA. Davis, who was inducted into the Clemson Ring of Honor in September, is averaging 7.4 points and 7.5 rebounds a game with the Portland

Trailbazers this year. He was named to the NBA All-Star team last year when he was playing for the Pacers.

Campbell, who was inducted into the Clemson Hall of Fame last year, is the starting center with the Charlotte Hornets. He is averaging 12.6 points and 7.8 rebounds a game this year for the Hornets. They played against each other in Charlotte on January 11. Campbell had 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Davis had eight points and 15 rebounds.

Chris Whitney and Greg Buckner, who both came to Clemson from Hopkinsville, KY, are both in the NBA. Whitney has been starting of late with the Washington team and has scored in double figures in 10 straight games. He has had three double-doubles in that time. He had 14 points and 13 assists in a recent victory over Minnesota, then had 27 points and 11 assists in a win over Boston. Buckner was an off and on starter for the Dallas Mavericks until he was injured in December. He is averaging 7.2 points and 5.7 rebounds a game so far for Don Nelson’s Mavericks.