Clemson Notes From The Wake Forest Men’s Basketball Game

Jan. 9, 2000

Clemson Player of the Game Guard Will Solomon accounted for 26 of Clemson’s 53 points in the loss to Wake Forest…he had five assists and only two turnovers in the contest…20 of Solomon’s 26 points came in the second half as he was 5-9 from the field and 8-9 from the free throw line during the second stanza.

Will Solomon vs. Robert O’Kelley Two of the premier guards in the ACC were on the floor Sunday at Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson’s Will Solomon and Wake Forest junior Robert O’Kelley…Solomon was matched up with O’Kelley on defense, but the two were not matched up on the other end of the floor…Wake Forest coach Dave Odom tried to shut down the ACC’s leading scorer by having taller players defend the six-foot-one Solomon…six foot-five Niki Arinze drew the assignment for most of the night…O’Kelley a 40% shooter coming in struggled from the field as he was 4-13 (31%)…he finished the afternoon with 15 points.

More Will Solomon Facts Sunday’s game marked the ninth time this season that Will Solomon has had 20 or more points in a game…it was his 14th game scoring in double figures and the 12th time he has led Clemson in scoring in 1999-2000.

Clemson Wins the Battle of the Boards Again Clemson outrebounded Wake Forest 44-38 and now has won the battle of the boards in 12 of its 14 games this season and 19 of its last 21 dating back to last season.

Key Stat of the Game Baskets from beyond the three-point line were hard to come by for the Tigers for the second consecutive game…Clemson was 4-of-23 (17.4%) on 3s versus Wake…the Tigers were 3-of-24 (12.5%) on Thursday night versus North Carolina, thus Clemson is 7-of-47 (14.8%) on 3s the last two games.

Ray Henderson Gets the Nod as a Starter Freshman Ray Henderson was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in his short Clemson career on Sunday…he had two points and five rebounds against the Deacs.

Darius Songaila Key for Deacons Sophomore Darius Songaila was an important cog in Wake Forest’s win on Sunday…he finished the game with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting…he also contributed four steals and a block in 28 minutes of play…Songaila can also be credited with helping put an end to a Clemson rally…when the Tigers cut the Wake lead to six with 2:52 to play, Songaila drove baseline and hit a key reverse layup that started a 12-4 run by Wake to end the game.