Clemson-South Carolina Men’s Basketball Notes

Dec. 8, 2000

Clemson at South Carolina Saturday, Dec. 9, 2000 7:00 PM (EST) Carolina Coliseum/Frank McGuire Arena (12,401) Columbia, SC TV: Fox Sports Net South/Sunshine Network

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Clemson vs. South Carolina Series South Carolina holds a 82-68 lead in the series with Clemson, but the Tigers have won six in a row and 26 of the last 36. Clemson has been especially successful in Littlejohn Coliseum, winning 17 of the 22 games played, including 17 of the last 18.

Clemson has won each of the last four games between the two teams in Columbia. That streak started with an 89-84 win in overtime in 1992-93. Clemson also gained an 83-59 win in 1994-95, Rick Barnes first year and Larry Shyatt’s first trip to Columbia as a Clemson assistant coach. Clemson won by a 58-39 margin in 1996-97 and by 70-66 in Larry Shyatt’s first year as Clemson head coach.

South Carolina’s only win over Clemson in Littlejohn Coliseum since 1973 came in 1993-94, a 91-88 Gamecock victory. That was also South Carolina’s last win anywhere against Clemson. It came in Eddie Fogler’s first year. That game featured a 14-27 three-point shooting game for South Carolina, then a school record for three-point goals made and still the sixth most three-point goals against Clemson in history.

Clemson and South Carolina have met at least once a year since the 1977-78 season. South Carolina and Clemson were both in the ACC between 1953-54 and 1971-72. South Carolina won the last 11 meetings when the two teams were in the ACC. Clemson has won 26 of 36 since the Gamecocks left the conference.

Clemson will be attempting to gain a seventh straight win over South Carolina. This current six-game streak is the longest Clemson streak in the series since the 1978-82 era when Clemson, under Bill Foster, won eight in a row. That is Clemson’s longest winning streak in history over the Gamecocks.

Clemson has won some close games against the Gamecocks in recent years, including five of the last six that have been decided by five points or less, all within the last eight years. That includes each of the last three.

Last Year vs. South CarolinaClemson 61, South Carolina 58 Will Solomon scored 26 points and pulled in a career high 11 rebounds, leading Clemson to a 61-58 win over South Carolina at Littlejohn Coliseum last year. Solomon scored 17 points in the second half, including four three-point goals. He missed his first five three-point attempts, then made his last four. He received support from Adam Allenspach, who had 13 points and nine rebounds, including five off the offensive boards.

Andrius Jurkunas played 17 minutes in the second half with a broken thumb. He scored just two points, but had seven rebounds and four assists. His lone two points came on a tip-in to give Clemson a 57-49 lead with 1:21 left.

Ray Henderson also provided a boost off the bench with four points, four rebounds and four blocked shots in just 12 minutes. Edward Scott made two free throws with 20 seconds left to give Clemson a three-point lead.

Clemson trailed 27-26 at intermission, but took an eight point lead at 51-43 with 4:45 left. Clemson still had an eight-point margin with 1:21 left, but the Tigers had trouble controlling the ball. South Carolina got the count to 57-56 with 54 seconds left. But, at the 45-second mark Damien Kinloch called timeout when he was trapped against the sidelines, a timeout South Carolina did not have. A technical was called and Clemson got the ball and two free throws. South Carolina still was within 59-58 on a bank shot by Aaron Lucas, but Scott made two critical free throws and the Gameocks missed two three-point attempts in the closing seconds.

Clemson won the game despite shooting just 14-30 from the foul line and committing 25 turnovers. Clemson did win the rebound margin 45-32, including a 17-5 margin over the last 10 minutes. South Carolina shot just 37 percent fro mthe field, 23 percent from three-point land.

Last Trip to ColumbiaClemson 70, South Carolina 66 Clemson guard Terrell McIntyre scored 27 points, leading the Tigers to a 70-66 win over South Carolina at Columbia during the 1998-99 season. McIntyre put on a show that night, connecting on 10-13 shots from the field. He made 2-3 on three-point shots and 5-5 from the foul line, plus added seven assists in one of his top all-around games as a Tiger.

McIntyre won the individual battle with Gamecock senior guard B.J. McKie, who scored 23 points, but shot just 7-17 from the field. Clemson shot 49 percent from the field and won the rebound battle, 36-26. Clemson had just 13 turnovers, none in the last 8:14 of the game.

Giving support to McIntyre were Harold Jamison, Tom Wideman and Johnny Miller. Jamison had 11 points and nine rebounds, while Wideman had six offensive rebounds. Miller had 10 points, including two clutch free throws with 16 seconds left that gave Clemson a five-point lead. Andrius Jurkunas had six points, including a pair of clutch three-point goals down the stretch.

South Carolina had a 17-11 lead in the first eight minutes, but Clemson went on a 24-10 run to end the half, which was punctuated by a three-point goal from McIntyre. Clemson led by nine in the second half, but freshman Aaron Lucas led a comeback that cut the game to 5-49. McKie then left for two minutes due to injury, but Clemson went on a 6-0 run in his absence and never trailed the rest of the night. McIntyre made the biggest shot of the night with 51 seconds left. He nailed a jumper with Clemson leading by just 64-63 to put Clemson back up by three.

Defense Key for Clemson vs. South Carolina Defense has been the key to Clemson’s six-game winning streak over the Gamecocks. In this six-game winning streak, Clemson has held South Carolina to 37.6 percent from the field, including 24.2 percent from three-point range. South Carolina has averaged just 56.5 points per game in those six games and has scored over 59 points just once, in the 70-66 Clemson in in Columbia two years ago.

Clemson has an average margin of victory of 11.2 points (67.7 to 56.5) and has won the rebounding by +8.2 per game (a +49 total rebound margin for the six games combined). Clemson has out-rebounded South Carolina in five of the last six games. That includes a +10 margin and a +13 margin in the last two games respectively. South Carolina has a 54/86 assist/turnover ratio against Clemson in those six games.

Clemson 5-1-1 vs. South Carolina this Year Clemson has a 5-1-1 advantage in head to head athletic competition with South Carolina this year. Clemson gained victory over the Gamecocks in football, 16-14 on November 18 at Death Valley. Last week, Clemson defeated South Carolina in women’s basketball at Frank McGuire Arena, Clemson’s sixth straight win over the Lady Gamecocks. Clemson also defeated South Carolina in men’s swimming and women’s swimming in November. Clemson’s women’s soccer won the head to head battle earlier this year, while the men’s soccer teams tied 0-0. Volleyball is the only sport that South Carolina has gained victory over Clemson so far this year. Clemson is 21-9-1 in head to head competition against South Carolina in all sports over the last three years.

Clemson vs. the SEC Clemson has had some success against SEC teams the last six years. The Tigers have an 8-2 mark against the league since the 1994-95 season. That was the first year Larry Shyatt came to Clemson, he was an assistant under Rick Barnes at that time. Shyatt is 3-0 against the SEC as a head coach, two wins over South Carolina and an NIT victory over Georgia in 1998-99.

Clemson’s success against the SEC includes a victory over Kentucky in the BCA Classic in Indianapolis in 1996-97. That was the season opener that year and Kentucky was the defending national champion and ranked third in the nation.

Clemson has not had great success vs. the SEC over the years. Clemson is 132-201 against the league lifetime. Clemson has a winning record against just one of the league teams (given a minimum of 5 games). The Tigers are 10-9 against Florida.