Sunday 02/13/2000
Feb. 13, 2000
Clemson vs. Virginia Series
Virginia holds a 55-43 advantage in the series with Clemson, a series that dates to 1936 when Clemson won at Charlottesville, 45-34. That was the only meeting between the two teams prior to the formation of the ACC. Since 1955 Clemson and Virginia have met at least twice per season.
Clemson has won four of the last seven and five of nine, but prior to that Virginia had won seven in a row and 10 of 11. Virginia won the meeting at Clemson earlier this year, breaking a four-game Clemson winning streak at home against Virginia.
Clemson must hope the contest is not close, because the Tigers don’t fare well in close games against Virginia. In fact, in the last 21 years, regardless of site, Clemson is 2-15 against the Cavaliers in games decided by five points or less. That includes six straight losses since a 65-62 Clemson win at Clemson in 1988, a game that was won on a baseline jumper by Elden Campbell in the last five seconds of the game.
For a period of time the series featured many close games. In the 1980s, 11 games were decided by five points or less, including nine that were decided by two or one point. In the 1990s, just five have been decided by five or less, but just one of the last 13 meetings.
Tigers 3-18 at Virginia last 21 years
University Hall has been a building of horrors for Clemson the last 21 years. Clemson has a 3-18 record in the building since 1979 and all three wins have come in special seasons.
The Tigers won in 1987 by a 94-90 score thanks to a late three-point goal in overtime by Horace Grant, the only three-point goal of his career and with the help of a late four-point play by Anthony Jenkins. Clemson finished with a school record 25 wins that year. In 1990, Clemson gained victory 76-70 behind Dale Davis and Elden Campbell. Cliff Ellis’s Tigers claimed the school’s only ACC regular season championship that year.
And, three years ago the Tigers defeated a 25th ranked Virginia team, 62-52. That Clemson team, went on to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament and won 23 games. Current senior Andrius Jurkunas played in that nationally televised game.
There have been some unusual shooting games for Clemson in the building. The two worst shooting games in Clemson history have taken place in University Hall. In Cliff Ellis’s final season, the Tigers shot just 15-63 in the building, .238, the worst shooting performance in Clemson history, in a 50-44 loss. The next year, Rick Barnes first season, Clemson made just 12-50, and the .240 was the second worst field goal percentage in Clemson history.
In 1993 at Virginia, Clemson scored just 16 points in the first half on 6-36 shooting, then scored 66 in the second half, the highest scoring second half in Clemson history in an ACC game, but still lost 100-82. In 1984 at Charlottesville, Clemson shot .675 from the field on 27-40 shooting, but still suffered defeat 77-70. That is the second highest field goal percentage in school history in a loss. Clemson was 16-20 from the field at the half in that game (80 percent) , but still trailed at intermission. by seven.
Shyatt, Gillen Both Coached at Providence
Larry Shyatt and Pete Gillen have a common school in their history. Both have coached with the Providence Friars. Shyatt was an assistant under Rick Barnes from 1988-94 and was on the staff that won the only Big East Tournament Championship in the school’s history. Gillen was the head coach at Providence after Barnes left and took the Friars to the Final Eight of the NCAA Tournament two years ago. Gillen ended up coaching many of the players Shyatt had recruited to Providence, including first-round draft choice Austin Croshere.
Clemson Assistant AD Played at Virginia
Clemson Assistant AD for basketball operations Anthony Solomon is a former Virginia Cavalier player. He was a member of Terry Holland’s Final Four team in 1983-84, Solomon’s freshman year. He played through the 1986-87 season. Virginia won 78 games in the four years he played. He played in three NCAA Tournaments and one NIT. Solomon also served as an assistant coach at Virginia from 1994-95 to 1997-98 under Jeff Jones.
Last Year at Virginia Virginia 65, Clemson 58 At Charlottesville, VA
Donald Hand outscored Terrell McIntyre 27-2 in the first meeting between Clemson and Virginia at Charlottesville last year. Hand hit 6-10 three-point goals in the contest, while McIntyre had a career low two points and was 0-6 from behind the arc. The victory was Virginia’s first of the ACC season after five conference losses.
Virginia held a 33-29 advantage at halftime behind 17 points from Hand’s hot hand (5-7 three-point shots), but Clemson led in the second half, as late as 53-52 with 4:28 remaining. It was still a one-point game game with three minutes left, but Virginia went on a 12-3 run to end the game. Chris Williams added 11 points to Hand’s total.
Clemson was led by Andrius Jurkunas with 16 points, including 4-7 three-point shots, the only game all year the junior led Clemson in scoring. Harold Jamison shot a season worst 5-13 from the field, but had 16 rebounds, including seven offensive rebounds. Vincent Whitt added 13 points and three assists off the bench. Johnny Miller was 0-7 from the field, and thus Clemson’s starting backcourt was 1-16 from the field, 0-11 on three-point shots in that game.
Clemson won the rebounding battle 39-25, but lost the score by seven. The Tigers were just 10-33 from the field in the second half, 30.3 percent, while Virginia shot 46 percent for the game.
First Meeting This Year Virginia 98, Clemson 91
Virginia held off the scoring of Will Solomon in gaining a 98-91 win over Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum on January 15. Solomon scored 43 points, most by a Clemson player in 30 years, but it was not enough. Chris Williams and Donald Hand each had 18 points to lead Virginia, who nearly became the first team to score 100 points against the Tigers in six years.
Solomon made 14-21 shots from the field overall, including a career high tying 8-12 three-point shots. He added 7-10 free throws and had nine rebounds. Solomon had 14 points in the first half and 29 in the second. Pasha Bains and Adam Allenspach added 16 apiece for the Tigers, who scored 59 points in the second half on 60 percent shooting.
Turnovers were the big story for the Tigers, who played without starting point guard Edward Scott and reserve guard Dustin Braddick. Clemson had 25 turnovers compared to just eight for Virginia. Clemson won the battle of the boards by 18 (48-30) thanks to a career high 12 rebounds by Chucky Gilmore, and made 11-20 three-point shots, 55 percent.
Virginia led just 27-23 with 7:40 to go in the first half when the visitors went on a 23-9 run to end the first half. That included a 13-2 run to end the first half. Colin Ducharne and Stephane Dondon had a pair of field goals apiece during the run.
Virginia moved the lead to 22 at 64-42 just five minutes into the second half. Andrius Jurkunas then made it a five point game with 3:36 left on a three-point goal from the top of the key. It was a four-point game at 89-85 on a layup by Solomon with 50 seconds left. But the Cavs would not miss at the foul line. They were 26-32 from the line for the game, including 7-7 by freshmen Majestic Mapp and Stephane Dondon off the bench in the last five minutes.
Clemson vs. Virginia
Clemson Downs Florida State by 26
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 Chucky Gilmore and 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 3-3 record over its last six games. All six 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 last time Clemson played Virginia. The Cavaliers won that contest by seven, 98-91.
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.
Assist/turnover ratio has been a problem for Clemson this year. The Tigers have 305 assists and 379 turnovers so far this year. Clemson opponents have 319 assists and 264 turnovers.
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 eight ACC losses, Jurkunas has shot just 20-69 from the field overall, including 8-37 on three-point shots.
Jurkunas vs. the ACC
Solomon On Hot Streak
Clemson All-ACC candidate Will Solomon has been on a hot streak his last three games. Now he prepares to face the team he scored his career high 43 points against back on January 15. Over his last three games Solomon has scored 88 points, has made 32-56 shots from the field (.571), made 16-27 three-point goals (.593) and 8-12 free throws. That is a 29.3 scoring average over the three games. In this time he has scored 42.5 percent of Clemson’s points. He had 26 points against North Carolina on Feb. 6, 29 against Wake Forest on Feb. 8 and then scored 33 against Florida State on Feb. 12.
Solomon is the first Clemson player to have three straight games of at least 25 points since Butch Zatezalo had a record six straight games of at least 25 points from Feb. 15 to March 6, 1969. Those were the last six games of his junior year. The streak stopped in the first game of his senior year when he had just 17 points.
Zatezalo averaged 34.5 points a game during that six-game stretch, but he averaged 28 shots a game. He made 88 percent of his free throws to help his scoring production. He scored 40.27 percent of the Tigers points in that six-game stretch.
The Clemson record for most 25-point games in a season is 16 by Bill Yarborough in 1954-55. He averaged 28.3 points a game that year, fourth best in the country.
Butch Zatezalo’s Six-Game 25-point Streak
Will Solomon Three-game 25-point Streak
Solomon Scoring Over third of Tiger Points
Will Solomon has scored 33.88 percent of Clemson’s points this season and is attempting to be the first ACC player in 30 years to score at least a third of his team’s points over the course of the season. The last ACC player to score at least a third of his team’s points was Charlie Davis of Wake Forest in 1970-71. Davis scored 690 of Wake Forest’s 2065 points that year, 33.41 percent.
What is especially amazing is that Solomon leads the ACC in scoring on a team that is last in the conference in scoring as a team. Clemson has averaged 63.8 points a game and Solomon has a 21.6 average. The last and only player in ACC history to lead the league in scoring on the lowest scoring team was Mark Price. He led the ACC in scoring in 1982-83, but the Yellow Jackets were last in team scoring average.
The ACC record for percentage of a team’s points in a season is held by a Clemson player. The late Bill Yarborough scored 39.6 percent of Clemson’s points in 1954-55. He tallied 651 of Clemson’s 1644 points that year and averaged a Clemson record 28.3 points a game that year and ranked fourth in the nation, the highest ranking ever for a Clemson player in scoring.
Solomon’s 33.88 percent of points scored for his team would rank eighth best in ACC history if the season ended today. All seven of the figures above him took place between 1953-54 and 1965-66, so his figures are certainly remarkable by contemporary standards.
Solomon has made a run from a percentage standpoint in the last three games. He has scored 88 of Clemson’s 207 points in that time, 42.5 percent of Clemson’s points in that time.
ACC Players Highest % of Team’s Points
Solomon Leads Clemson in Scoring and Assists
Will Solomon leads the Tigers in scoring and assists per game, a rarity in college basketball. In fact, only two players in the last 30 years have done that over the course of a season for Clemson. Chris Whitney led the Tigers in both areas in 1992-93 and Terrell McIntyre did it last year. Prior to that you have to go back to Butch Zatezalo in 1968-69 to find the last time a Tiger led the Team in scoring and assists in the same season.
Henderson top Rebounder Last Three Games
Ray Henderson has not played more than 18 minutes in any of the last three games, yet he has led Clemson in rebounding in all three contests. He 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 three games, Henderson has 19 rebounds in his last 39 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 3.2 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 21-37 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 11 games. That includes three consecutive games of 80 percent or better. Clemson has made 144 of 197 free throws in the last 11 games, a .731 mark. Larry Shyatt Tigers are now shooting 67.7 percent from the line for the year, 71 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 .677 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.
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 three 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.
Jurkunas Has Fourth Most Threes
Clemson senior Andrius Jurkunas made 5-7 three-point goal attempts against Florida State on Feb. 12 and moved into fourth place on Clemson’s all-time three-point goal list. He now needs just five to move ahead of David Young into third place. When he does that he will trail only Terrell McIntyre (259) and Chris Whitney (167).
Jurkunas has been playing well of late. He had 17 points against Florida State , his fourth double figure scoring game in his last seven. In the four games previous to the UNC contest, Jurkunas made 19 of 34 shots from the field, including 9-17 three-point shots. He scored 55 points in those four games. He had a career high 21 points in the win over Georgia Tech. He also led the team in rebounds with seven. That is the second time in the last four games that he has led Clemson in both categories.
Jurkunas had one of his most productive games as a Clemson Tiger in the 74-62 loss to Maryland on January 22. The native of Lithuania whose Clemson career dates to November 26, 1995, scored 16 points on 4-6 shooting. He also had 3-4 three-point goal successes and pulled in seven rebounds. he led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding, the first time he has done that in the same game.
Solomon Chasing 3Pt Goal Record
Clemson guard Will Solomon, the ACC’s top scorer with a 21.6 average, has made 16 of his last 27 three point goals over three games. Solomon ranks in the top 20 in the nation and first in the ACC in three-point goals per game. He is averaging 3.17 per game, ahead of the Clemson record pace for a season. The record on a per game basis over a season is 2.9 by Chris Whitney (now with the Washington Wizards of the NBA). Whitney did that in 1992-93, his senior year.
Solomon has 76 of Clemson’s 147 three-point goals this year,over 50 percent of Clemson’s three-point goals. The 76 three-point goals made already rank fourth best in Clemson history. And, Solomon still has at least six games left. The single season record is 99 by Terrell McIntyre set last year when Clemson played 35 games. Chris Whitney had 87 in 1992-93 and he also had 80 in 1991-92.
Three Tigers Reach Career Highs in One Week
Two weeks ago was a record setting week personally for three Clemson Tigers. Andrius Jurkunas, Dustin Braddick and 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 Second Leading Scorer
Clemson center Adam Allenspach 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 were also a career high. He made his last nine free throws of the game and is now shooting 73 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
Where Clemson has Struggled
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