Monday 02/21/2000
Feb. 21, 2000
CLEMSON, S.C. – Tuesday’s matchup will feature the ACC’s top two scorers, Clemson’s Will Solomon and Maryland’s Juan Dixon. In fact, both players have scored exactly 259 points in 12 ACC games for a 21.6 average. Both players average more in ACC games than in non-league games.
Solomon has scored 33.75 percent of Clemson’s points this year and is trying to become the first ACC since 1970-71 (Charlie Davis of Wake Forest) to score at least a third of his team’s points.
Maryland won the first meeting between the two teams this year, 74-62. Andrius Jurkunas led Clemson in scoring with 16 points and in rebounding with seven. Maryland blocked 11 Clemson shots more by a Clemson opponent this year.
Both teams were missing quite a few players due to injury in the first meeting. Clemson was without point guard Edward Scott, forward Ray Henderson, and forward Tomas Nagys. Maryland was without forward Terrence Morris, the only game he has missed this year.
Ray Henderson has been Clemson’s leading rebounder over the last four games even though he has not played more than 21 minutes in any game. He has 27 rebounds in 60 minutes over the four games.
Maryland and Clemson rank one-two in the ACC in field goal percentage defense. Clemson continues to lead the ACC in rebounding with +5.6 per game.
Will Solomon scored just 13 points at Virginia in his most recent game. He was not at 100 percent due to a bout with the flu. Over his last four games, Solomon is averaging 25.3 points and is shooting 52.2 % from the field and 52.9 % on 3-point shots over the last 4 games.
Clemson and Maryland have split overtime meetings in Littlejohn Coliseum the last two years.
Clemson vs. Maryland Series Maryland holds a 75-42 lead in the series with Clemson. The Terps have dominated the series in College Park, winning 45 of the 53 games. The Tigers did win there over a top 12 Maryland team three years ago, and also won on Maryland’s Senior Day in 1992-93.
Clemson has won four of the last 11 of the series and three of them were against top 20 Maryland teams. That includes the 1997-98 season when Clemson won 78-65 in overtime at Clemson, the second largest margin of victory in an overtime game in Clemson history. The Tigers outscored Maryland 13-0 in the overtime period. Clemson also had a double digit victory at Clemson over a seventh ranked Maryland team in 1996-97, 80-68.
Maryland won the first meeting at Clemson last year, also in overtime, 81-79. That is one of just two Maryland wins at Clemson in the last 11 years. Maryland’s 1999 seniors won three times at North Carolina, but just once at Clemson. The last two meetings between Clemson and Maryland in Littlejohn Coliseum have been overtime contests.
Clemson’s wins at Maryland took place in 1949-50 (60-55), 1961-62 (75-68), 1965-66 (81-69), 1975-76 (82-77), 1986-87 (80-79), 1989-90 (75-73), 1992-93 (81-73), and 1996-97 (76-70).
Last year, Clemson lost to Maryland in both meetings. The game at Clemson was a thriller. Terrell McIntyre scored 25 points on 8-11 shooting, including 4-6 three-point shots, but it was not enough as the Terps won 81-79 in overtime. Clemson shot 57 percent from the field, yet lost the game, a contest that was played at a high level. Current Clemson senior Andrius Jurkunas had 18 in support of McIntrye. Clemson made just 10-19 free throws in the contest, a prime reason for the defeat. Terence Morris led Maryland with 26 points thanks to 9-12 shooting. Seve Francis added 18 for the Terps, who hit 10-24 three-point shots.
Tuesday, February 22, 2000 (8:00 PM)
Series Record: Maryland leads 75-42at Clemson: Clemson leads 31-20at Littlejohn: Clemson leads 18-13at Maryland: Maryland leads 45-8Last Meeting: Maryland 74-62 at Maryland, 1-22-00Television: Jefferson Pilot
Upcoming Clemson Schedule:
Clemson Dominant vs. Maryland in Littlejohn Clemson has won nine of the last 11 meetings against Maryland in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson has beaten some very good Maryland teams during this 11-year period. Here is a run-down of the last 11 meetings with the Terps and Gary Williams played at Clemson.
Jurkunas at his Best vs. Maryland Andrius Jurkunas has played some of his best basketball as a Clemson Tiger against Maryland. For his career he has scored 78 points in eight games against the Terps, more than any other conference school. He is 25-47 from the field against Maryland (.532) and is 13-25 on three-point shots (.520). He also has 10 blocked shots against Maryland in his career, more than any other school. He continued his fine play earlier this year with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Jurkinas had 18 points against Maryland last year in a game at Littlejohn Coliseum, his high total for the season and his second high figure against an ACC team for his career. He made 6-9 shots from the field, including 5-8 three-point shots in Clemson’s 81-79 overtime loss. He hit a three-point goal in the final second of regulation to send the game into overtime.
As a freshman, back in 1995-96, Jurkunas had 14 points at Maryland on 5-9 shooting. For his career in four games in Cole Fieldhouse, Jurkunas was 14-27 from the field, 7-14 on three-point goals and has scored 46 points.
Clemson vs. Maryland
First Meeting This Year Maryland 74, Clemson 62
All five Maryland starters scored in double figures, as the Terps defeated an undermanned Clemson five by a 74-62 score in College Park on January 22. The Tigers had three players out with injury and dressed just six scholarship players. Still, the 12 point margin was closer than the 17-point defeat Clemson suffered at Maryland last year.
Will Solomon had 12 points and fourassists. Pasha Bains and Dustin Braddick added nine apiece.
Maryland was led by Juan Dixon with 18 points, including 4-7 on three-point shots, while Danny Miller scored 15. Freshman Tahj Holden, making his first college start, had 12 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season.
Clemson played without Edward Scott (chest cartilage) and Tomas Nagys (tendintis). Maryland was without second leading scorer Terrence Morris.
Maryland shot just 38 percent in the first half, but held a 38-22 lead at intermission. A three-point goal by Bains at the buzzer of the half brought Clemson to that close.
Clemson employed a box-and-one defense most of the game and forced the Terps to take 31 three-point goal attempts, their highest figure ever. Maryland defeated Clemson on the boards 41-38, just the third time all year Clemson had been out-rebounded. Clemson’s three-guard attack had something to do with that.
Clemson cut the margin to 52-41 with 8:02 left, then the Tigers got six good looks at the basket over the next two possessions and could not score. Maryland ran the advantage to 22 at 67-45 with 4:04 left. But, Clemson did not die and cut the margin to 12 by the end of the game. Jurkunas scored eight points in the last 2:44 of the game.
The two teams were ranked first and second in the ACC in field goal percentage defense entering the game. Neither team shot over 40 percent for the game. Clemson made 43 percent of its three-point shots, but the Terps had six less turnovers (11-17) than Clemson.
Solomon vs. Dixon top Guard Matchup The Clemson vs. Maryland game will showcase two of the top guards in the ACC on Tuesday night. In fact, Clemson’s Will Solomon and Maryland’s Juan Dixon are ranked one-two in the ACC in scoring heading into this week. That includes an outright tie in scoring in ACC games. Both have 259 points in 12 league games. Both are obviously in a battle for first-team All-ACC honors. As you can see by the chart below the two players are very similar in a number of areas:
Last Time Out Virginia Downs Clemson 76-62
Virginia used balanced scoring and jumped out to a 17-point lead then defeated Clemson 76-62 at Charlottesville on Feb. 15. Clemson has not played for a week since that contest. Donald Hand scored 21 points and had six assists to lead Virginia, while Chris Williams tallied 16.
Clemson was led in scoring by Will Solomon had 13 points. Allenspach had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season, his first since suffering a back injury in the sixth minute of the January 29 Duke game.
Andrius Jurkunas, Pasha Bains and Dustin Braddick had seven points for Clemson. The Tigers won the battle of the boards by eight, but committed 19 turnovers. Clemson shot just 2-12 on three-point shots.
Tigers 3-1 Last Four Home Games Clemson has a 3-1 record in its last four ACC home games. Clemson has shot 46.2 percent from the field, 41.4 percent on three-point shots and had a 66/43 assist/turnover ratio during this time. The opposition has shot 42.1 percent from the field, including just 28 percent on three-point shots, and most importantly had a 42/58 assist/turnover ratio. Clemson has outscored the opposition by an average of 68-58 in the four games at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Over the last four home games Clemson had defeated NC State, Georgia Tech and Florida State and lost only to North Carolina. Coach Shyatt has said he thought the game versus the Tar Heels might have been Clemson’s best performance of the year.
Clemson Faces Fifth Ranked Opponent Maryland will be the fifth game against a ranked team for the Tigers this year. Clemson is 1-3 against teams ranked in the top 25 of either poll this year. Clemson downed a 21st ranked NC State team on January 26, 59-42 at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers will also play a top 5 Duke team at home on March 1. The win over NC State gave Clemson at least one win over a ranked team in 14 straight seasons.
Clemson Has more Field Goals than Opposition Despite a 9-16 record overall and 3-9 mark in ACC play, Clemson has scored more field goals than the opposition in overall games and in ACC play this season. Clemson has shot better than the opposition (40.4 to 39.7) overall and the opposition has a slight lead in ACC games.
In the 12 league games Clemson has made 274 field goals, while the opposition has made 272. The big difference comes at the foul line. Clemson’s ACC opponents have made 208 free throws in the 12 games, while Clemson has attempted just 201.
There is also a big difference in three-point goals for the season. Opponents have made 41 more three-point goals overall for the season than Clemson and that represents 123 more points. Clemson has been outscored by 96 points for the season.
Holt Made First Start vs. Maryland Walker Holt made his first career start at Maryland when the two teams met earlier this year. The original walk-on who is now on scholarship for this season was the first original walk-on to start a game for the Tigers since the 1985-86 season when Jeff Holstein started at Georgia Tech.
Holt, a freshman from Greensboro, NC did not score in the game in 25 minutes (he took just two shots), but did have a season high five rebounds and three assists with just one turnover. He had a career high 12 points on 5-7 shooting against Appalachian State on January 19. He had those 12 points in 20 minutes. He had not scored over three points in a game all year prior to that contest.
Holt’s performance against Appalachian State included a midcourt shot at the end of the half that swished through the nets, the longest shot made by a Clemson player in the history of Littlejohn Coliseum. That fact is according to longtime Clemson SID Bob Bradley and 32-year play-play man Jim Phillips, who have seen almost every game in the history of the Coliseum. Wake Forest’s Rod Griffin made a shot just inside midcourt against the Tigers in 1978, but that is the closest long bomb anyone can remember.
Assist/Turnover Ratio Among the Best vs. FSU Clemson had its best ball handling game of the year in the win over Florida State. Clemson had 24 assists and just seven turnovers in the 26-point victory. That was the high assist mark of the season for a single game by Clemson and the second lowest turnover total. Those two extremes led to a 3.43 assist/turnover ratio, the third best single game ACC mark in Clemson history.
The only two games better in league play both took place against NC State. In 1992-93 season, Clemson had 25 assists and just five turnovers for a 5.0 figure in an ACC Tournament victory over NC State. In 1983-84 in a game at Clemson, the Tigers had 23 assist and just six turnovers (3.83) in a win over the Pack.
Overall, Clemson’s 3.43 assist/turnover ratio against Florida State was the 10th best in school history, best since the 1997-98 season when Clemson had 29 assists and just eight turnovers in a win over Western Carolina.
Jurkunas Key to Clemson ACC Wins Andrius Jurkunas had an outstanding performance in Clemson’s win over Florida State on Feb. 12. He had 16 points, including 5-7 on three-point goals. He also had six assists and no turnovers and held Ron Hale to 1-12 shooting from the field.
The play of Jurkunas has been an indicator of Clemson’s play in ACC games this year. In the three conference wins, Jurkunas has averaged 16 points, shot 17-29 from the field, 11-19 on three-point shots and had a 10/4 assist/turnover ratio. In Clemson’s nine ACC losses, Jurkunas has shot just 22-77 from the field overall, including 8-38 on three-point shots.
Jurkunas vs. the ACC
Henderson top Rebounder Over Last Four Games Ray Henderson has not played more than 18 minutes in any of the last four games, yet he has led Clemson in rebounding over that period of time. He has led Clemson in three of the last four games and had eight caroms at Virginia in the only game he failed to lead the club.
Henderson had eight rebounds, his second highest total of the season, in the win over Florida State. He did that in just 18 minutes and added seven points. Over his last four games, Henderson has 27 rebounds in his last 60 minutes of play.
On a per minute basis, Ray Henderson has been Clemson’s most productive rebounder this year. He has averaged a rebound every 3.14 minutes this year, best on the Clemson team. He had five rebounds in just six minutes against North Carolina on Feb. 6, then had six rebounds in 15 minutes at Wake Forest. The burly freshman has been hampered by injury all year and thus his stamina is not at a high rate.
The native of Charlotte, NC, had a productive 22 minutes of play at North Carolina in January and it was the first game in which he opened the eyes of the ACC media. 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.
He did play 16 minutes in the win over Georgia Tech and scored six points in 3-4 shooting. He also played strong defense against Alvin Jones of Georgia Tech. For the year, Henderson is 25-44 from the field, a team best .568 shooting percentage.
Free Throw Shooting Improved Clemson has shot at least 70 percent from the foul line in nine of its last 12 games. That includes three consecutive games of 80 percent or better in a recent streak. Clemson has made 162 of 223 free throws in the last 12 games, a .726 mark. Larry Shyatt Tigers are now shooting 67.8 percent from the line for the year, 70.6 percent in conference play. Clemson has not shot over 70 percent for the course of a season since 1986-87 when Clemson’s winningest team in history (25-6 with ACC Player of the Year Horace Grant) shot 71.6 percent. The all-time best is 73.4 by the 1981-82 team. Clemson has never led the ACC in free throw shooting.
Clemson’s current free throw percentage of .678 would be the third best by a Tiger squad in the last 13 years, or the length of time since Clemson had a 70 percent season. Clemson made 68 percent fro mthe line in 1996-97 and 69.6 in 1994-95.
Three Tigers Reach Career Highs in One Week Two weeks ago was a record setting week personally for three Clemson Tigers. Andrius Jurkunas, Chucky Gilmore, all players in at least their second season, all had career scoring highs. Jurkunas scored 21 in Clemson’s win over Georgia Tech, his high scoring total and only 20-point game of his 109-game Clemson career. Braddick scored 14 in that game for his career high, while Gilmore had 10 points against North Carolina, his first career double digit scoring game.
Allenspach Has Fifth Double-Doible Clemson center Adam Allenspach scored 15 points and had 10 rebounds in Clemson’s loss to Virginia on Feb. 15. It was Allenspach’s fifth double-double of the season, more than any other Tiger. It was his first double-double since he suffered a back injury at Duke on January 29.
He scored 24 points in Clemson’s loss to Appalachian State on January 19. That was his career high scoring effort and it was in fact the highest scoring game for a Clemson center since Sharone Wright scored 25 points at Wake Forest on Feb. 22, 1994. Allenspach connected on 7-11 field goals and 10-12 free throws.
His free throw shooting stats are also a career high. He made his last nine free throws of the Appalachian State game and is now shooting 74 percent from the line for the year. The native of Parkland, FL is trying to become the first Clemson center to lead the Tigers in free throw shooting since Ed Brinkley shot 77.8 percent in 1956-57. That is the only free throw shooting percentage over 75 percent for a season by a Clemson center in history.
Allenspach had five straight double figure scoring games and was averaging 16 points a contest prior to the Duke game in Durham when he went down with a bulging disk in his back. He had his first double figure scoring game in the win over Florida State since he hurt his back at Duke. Allenspach scored 12 points in the win over the Seminoles.
What Clemson has Done Well Rebounding–Tigers are +5.6 for the season, first in the ACC and third best in Clemson history. Tigers have been out-rebounded in just five games all year and have had a double digit rebound margin against 10 opponents.
Defense–Clemson has allowed opponents to make just 39.7 percent of their shots. Only two teams, Duke and North Carolina, have shot over 48 percent against Clemson this year.
Free Throw Shooting–Clemson has made 67.8 percent of its free throws this year, up from 62.5 last year. Clemson has made 71 percent in ACC games. Clemson has made at least 70 percent of its free throws in nine of the last 12 games.
Where Clemson has Struggled Three-Point Shooting–Clemson has made just 31.8 percent from beyond the arc. Opponents have made more three-point goals than Clemson in 13 of the last 16 games and 19 of 25 games this year.
Assist/turnover ratio–Clemson has had more turnovers than assists in 17 of 25 games. Clemson has committed 118 more turnovers than the opposition and has 84 more turnovers than assists.
Forcing Turnovers–Opponents have had more assists than turnovers in 13 of the last 15 games. A nine-game streak was snapped in the win over NC State. Clemson has just 119 steals compared to 190 by the opposition.
Free Throw Attempts–In ACC play the opposition has attempted 106 more free throws than Clemson in the 12 games.
Jurkunas Three-Point Record Holder Clemson senior Andrius Jurkunas needs five three-point goal to move ahead of David Young into third place on Clemson’s all-time three-point goal list. When he does that he will trail only Terrell McIntyre and Chris Whitney. He has 134 entering the Virginia game. He moved ahead of Bruce Martin with five threes against Florida State on Feb. 12.
He became Clemson’s career three-point goal leader among forwards when he made a pair of three-point goals against Wofford on November 21. Tony Christie had the previous record at 106.
Jurkunas had 51 three-point goals as a freshman and as a junior. Injury problems on 1996-97 gave him shooting problems all year and he made just 3-38 from long range. He made just 14 of his first 60 (.233) to start the season when he had the broken thumb on his shooting hand. But he has made 15 of 37 since he has been healthy, .405.
Clemson Career Three-Point Goal Leaders
Jurkunas stands 6-9 and is an unusual player in that he is capable of defending on the inside, but he is also a capable scorer on the outside. Jurkunas is one of just four players in ACC history standing 6-9 or taller to make over 100 three-point goals in a career. The others to do it are Tom Gugliotta of NC St, Michael Maddox of Georgia Tech, and Danny Ferry of Duke.
Jurkunas has 76 blocked shots to go with his 134 career three-point goals. He entered 1999-2000 as one of just 10 players in ACC history with at least 100 three-point goals and at least 50 blocked shots. No player in ACC history has had at least 100 three-point goals and 100 blocked shots. Jurkunas would need 44 blocked shots his senior year to do it (he has 20 so far) Maddox of Georgia Tech came the closest with 133 three-point goals and 93 blocked shots.
ACC Players with 100 Career 3s and 50 Blocked Shots
Head Coach Larry Shyatt Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt had a 20-15 record in his first year as Clemson Head Coach. He guided Clemson to the Championship of the NIT, a 61-60 loss to California. The 20 victories were a record for a Clemson coach in his first year and he was just the fourth coach in ACC history to win at least 20 in his rookie year with an ACC program.
Shyatt was the head coach at Wyoming in 1997-98 and posted a 19-9 ledger and berth in the NIT. Thus, he had a 39-24 record as a head coach entering this year. This is his 25th year in college coaching, his third as a head coach. In 15 of his last 16 years the team he has coached (head or assistant) has gone to the NIT of the NCAA.
Shyatt has also had assistant coaching stints at Utah, Cleveland State, New Mexico and Providence in addition to his three years as associate head coach at Clemson under Rick Barnes. Shyatt enters this game with a record of 29-31 at Clemson and he is 48-40 overall.
Clemson Has Young Roster Clemson has one of the youngest teams in the nation with only one senior and one junior with previous Division I experience listed on its roster. This is the youngest Clemson team since the 1987-88 season when Grayson Marshall was the only senior and Jerry Pryor was the only junior among scholarship players. That Clemson team finished 14-15, but did qualify for the NIT.
This year’s Clemson team has one senior, Andrius Jurkunas, and one junior, Adam Allenspach among scholarship players. Walk-on Michael Crocker is a junior, but is in his first year with the program.
The young veteran Clemson players have been asked to step up their play considerably from last year. The five players returning from last year have made large jumps in terms of playing time and scoring. Will Solomon scoring average is triple what it was last year, from 6.3 points to 21.6 and is the largest increase in the ACC.
Eighty-nine percent of Clemson’s scoring and 88 percent of its rebounds have come from underclassmen this year.
Clemson 3-Pt Streak at 303 Consecutive Games Clemson has a streak of 303 consecutive games with at least a three-point goal. The streak dates to the 1990-91 season when the Tigers were 0-7 from long range in an 81-55 loss at Wake Forest. Clemson was also 0-17 that year in a home loss to UNC Charlotte.
Clemson has made at least two three-point goals this year in every game. Clemson had its best three-point shooting game of the year against Florida State on Feb. 12, hitting 12-20 contributing to a 26-point win. In the first meeting against Virginia, Clemson hit 11-20, for 55 percent. Will Solomon made 8-12 from long range in that game. The Tigers were also 8-19 at Penn State from long range.
Clemson made 43 percent of its three-point shots at Maryland recently. Will Solomon leads the team with 78 and is on a record pace in terms of three-point goals per game (3.1). Solomon has made 18 of his last 34 three-point goals, and his .380 percent from long range is in the top 10 in the ACC. He is shooting 43 percent on three-point goals in ACC play.
Tigers Have 10 Healthy Scholarship Players for First Time College basketball teams begin practice on October 15, but it took until February 4 for Clemson to have its full roster of scholarship players available for a practice. On that Friday, Adam Allenspach returned to practice after missing the Georgia Tech game with a bulging disk.
Clemson had played 21 games with at least one scholarship player injured and unable to play. The North Carolina game on Feb. 6 was the first time Clemson had all 10 scholarship players healthy. The Tigers looked like it also, taking the Tar Heels to the wire before losing. Clemson has now had 10 healthy scholarship players the last four games.
The absence of healthy scholarship players has hurt Clemson’s preparation in games this year. Many practices prior to games Clemson has had just six healthy scholarship players. Clemson played at Maryland with just six scholarship players.
Clemson Defense Still Strong Clemson has struggled on offense, but the defense has been outstanding so far this season. So far this year, Clemson opponents are shooting just 39.7 percent from the field overall and are averaging just 67.6 points per game. The 39.7 percent is second best in the ACC and would be the second best by a Clemson team in the last 40 years if the season ended today.
Duke and North Carolina are the only Clemson opponent to shoot over 48 percent against Clemson. Duke hit 52.4 against the Tigers on January 29 in Durham and North Carolina shot 52.2 against Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum. NC State shot just 30 percent against Clemson in the Tigers victory in January.
Defense has been a hallmark of Larry Shyatt coached teams. Clemson opponents scored just 64.7 points a game last year and shot just 41.1 percent from the field. The Tigers led the ACC and ranked in the top 20 in the nation in scoring defense last year.
Clemson top Field Goal % Defense Seasons (Last 40 Years)
Seven Tigers in the NBA For the first time in history, Clemson has seven former players in the NBA in the same season. The list includes four former Clemson centers, a point guard, a two guard and a small forward. The previous high for former Tigers in the NBA was six.
Leading the way has been Dale Davis, who is in his ninth year with the Indiana Pacers, his seventh year as a starter. He was chosen to the NBA All-Star team for the first time.
Through 50 games, Davis was averaging 11.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. He was sixth in the NBA in field goal percentage through games of Feb. 18 with a .521 figure. He was also seventh in the league in rebounding and 18th in double-doubles with 16. What is most impressive is his much improved free throw percentage (.700).
Elden Campbell is the highest scorer among former Clemson players in the NBA. Campbell was averaging 12.3 points a game in 31 minutes a game for the Charlotte Hornets. He was also pulling in 7.6 rebounds a game and was 16th in the league in blocked shots. He had a season high 27 points against Washington Wizards on Feb. 5, including 15-18 Ft.
The veteran of Clemson’s group in the NBA is Horace Grant. A rookie with the Chicago Bulls in 1987-88, he played on three World Championship teams with that franchise. After a four-year stint with the Orlando Magic, he is now with the Seattle Supersonics. He has started all 49 games this year and averaged 36 minutes per game. He is averaging 7.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Chris Whitney is in his sixth year with the Washington Wizzards as a backup point guard. He had 17 points in his third game of the season and also had a double-double this year against Seattle. Whitney is a career 80 percent free throw shooter. He had 13 vs. Charlotte on Feb. 5.
Devin Gray replaced Charles Barkley on the Houston Rockets when the future Hall of Famer was injured in December. He has played in 11 games for the team. Greg Buckner joined the Dallas Mavericks after the first of the year. He was averaging 20 minutes a game before Dennis Rodman joined the team. Harold Jamison has played in one game for the Miami Heat. The 1998-99 Clemson senior is currently on injured reserve.
Clemson Players in the NBA (Through Games of Feb. 18, 2000)
*Denotes Assist Average
Allenspach, Gilmore Strong Defender in Middle Clemson 7-1 center Adam Allenspach and 265-pound forward Chucky Gilmore have proven to be large obstacles for opposing centers so far this season. A look to the stats shows us that opposing starting centers have averaged just 5.7 points and 5.2 rebounds a game against the Tigers this year. They have shot just over 40 percent from the field and have just 40 offensive rebounds.
Allenspach has averaged 11.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for the first 24 games, all as a starter, so he is obviously winning the war at his position. Gilmore has contributed 6.2 rebounds per game. Allenspach has 12 double figure scoring games and four double-doubles. No opposing starting center has a double-double against the Tigers, in fact, only four opposing centers have scored in double figures, and only one has had double figures in rebounds.
Opposing Centers vs. Clemson
Clemson Near Record Pace in Rebound Margin Clemson Leads ACC in Rebound Margin If the season ended today, this would be the third highest rebound margin by a Clemson team in school history. The Tigers are +5.6 in overall games so far this year. Clemson has been out-rebounded just five times all year, a sign of the hustle and drive of Larry Shyatt team.
Clemson has won the battle of theboards in 20 of its 25 games this year and has had a double figure advantage in 10 of the 25 games, including at Duke on January 29 by +12. Clemson was +18 on the boards against Virginia on Jan. 15. Clemson had a positive rebound margin in its last seven games last year, so the Tigers have outrebounded the opposition in 27 of their last 32 games. Larry Shyatt has been Clemson’s head coach for 59 games and the Tigers have been beaten on the glass just 11 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
Six Tigers Have Missed 26 Games due to Injury Clemson had not had a full compliment of scholarship players for a single practice, never mind a game until Friday February 4th. That certainly has hindered Clemson’s preparation for games, as walk-ons, managers and even graduate student manager Bruce Martin have helped out in practice. When Adam Allenspach missed the Georgia Tech game he was the sixth different player to miss action this year due to injury. Clemson players have missed a combined 26 games this year and at least one player missed each of the first 21 games this year. That does not include the seven games Pasha Bains missed at the start of the season due to the NCAA transfer rule.
Here is the injury rundown so far this year:
Edward Scott missed the first three games of the season with abroken foot, an injury he suffered in preseason. He missed threemore games with a cartilage tear in his chest, but returned for theNC State game. Andrius Jurkunas missed four games from Nov. 27 toDecember 4 with a broken right (shooting) thumb. He wore a softcast for the next six games, the injury affected his shootingability. Adam Allenspach suffered pain from a bulging disk at Dukeand played just six minutes. Missed the Georgia Tech game.Questionable for North Carolina. He had played 55 straight gamesprior to the Tech game. Chucky Gilmore missed three games with aconcussion suffered in practice prior to the South Carolina Stategame. Dustin Braddick, who started the first eight games of theseason, had surgery to repair tendon and other problems with hisright ankle. He had surgery on December 19 and January 3 and missedsix games in a row. He returned to the lineup for eight minutesagainst Appalachian State and had a productive 17 minutes (9points) against Maryland. Ray Henderson missed three games due toknee problems and a pulled groin muscle in November. He missed thelast three games with that injury, but returned for the GeorgiaTech game and mae 3-4 shots. He has been bothered by a cartilageinjury in his chest. It forced him to miss the second half againstFurman and the second half against Virginia. He had knee surgery inOctober.
Clemson Downs Florida State by 26 Will Solomon scored 33 points, including 15 consecutive points at one stretch late in the game, leading Clemson to a 84-58 win over Florida State on Feb. 12 at Littlejohn Coliseum. Andrius Jurkunas added 17 points, six assists and no turnovers, while Adam Allenspach added 12 points.
It was Clemson’s top game of the season in terms of ball handling. The Tigers had 24 assists and jsut seven turnovers and that 3.43 assist/turnover ratio is the third best in Clemson history in an ACC game. Adam Allenspach had a carer high four assists, while Solomon had four assists and just one turnover in his 36 minutes.
Damous Anderson scored 28 to lead Florida State, but he was the only Seminole in double figures. Ron Hale, who came into the game fourth in the ACC in scoring with a 17.4 average, had just six points and made just 1-12 shots from the field. Jurkunas gets the credit for stopping Hale as he guarded the 6-8 Florida State guard for 32 minutes.
Clemson also got strong efforts from Ray Henderson. Gilmore, playing on his 20th birthday, was 3-4 from the field and scored six points. Henderson was Clemson’s leading rebounder for the third straight game and finished with eight in just 18 minutes. He also scored seven points.
Clemson jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first half, 35-23, then started the second half with a 18-6 run to take a 24-point lead with 13 minutes left. Clemson led by as many as 30 points late in the game. Solomon made 6-6 from the field, including three-three-point goals to score 15 straight points from the 6:01 mark to the 2:07 mark. Clemson shot 63.3 percent in the second half on 19-30 and that included 0-3 by walk-ons who played the last two minutes.
Clemson had a 56.4 percent shooting for the game, best in an ACC game and best since the Tigers made 57 percent in the season opener against East Tennessee State. Clemson also shot a season high 12-20 on three-point goals and also made 83 percent from the foul line.
Shyatt ACC Wins Have been Routs Clemson gained its eighth ACC win under Larry Shyatt with the 84-58 triumph over Florida State on Feb. 12. The 26-point margin was Clemson’s high water mark in an ACC game this year, but just the third best under Shyatt. Clemson defeated Florida State by 33 at Clemson last year and also stopped Georgia Tech by 28 at home a year ago.
When Clemson gains victory in ACC play over the last two years it has been by a large margin. The average victory margin in Clemson’s eight ACC wins the last two years have been by 20.25 points. The losses have come by 14.9 points.
Clemson has a 3-4 record over its last seven games. All seven of those games have been decided by 12 points or more. In fact, the last Clemson game that was decided by less than 12 was the first time Clemson played Virginia. The Cavaliers won that contest by seven, 98-91.
Assist/turnover ratio has been a problem for Clemson this year. The Tigers have 314 assists and 398 turnovers so far this year. Clemson opponents have 333 assists and 280 turnovers.
Free Throw Shooting Improved Clemson has shot at least 70 percent from the foul line in nine of its last 12 games. That includes three consecutive games of 80 percent or better at one juncture. Clemson has made 162 of 223 free throws in the last 12 games, a .726 mark. Larry Shyatt Tigers are now shooting 67.8 percent from the line for the year, 70.6 percent in conference play. Clemson has not shot over 70 percent for the course of a season since 1986-87 when Clemson’s winningest team in history (25-6 with ACC Player of the Year Horace Grant) shot 71.6 percent. The all-time best is 73.4 by the 1981-82 team. Clemson has never led the ACC in free throw shooting.
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