Ace Buckner scores career-high 26; Liutauras Lelevicius totals first career double-double
CLEMSON, S.C. – Ace Buckner (Dallas, Texas/La Lumiere School (Ind.)) turned in another career-high, this time his 26 points helped push Clemson University men’s basketball past American University in an 82-73 victory on Friday night in Littlejohn Coliseum.
Buckner finished 9-for-14 from the floor and 5-for-8 from three, in addition to a team-best and career-best six assists.
The Tigers (2-0) trailed by as many as seven in the first half (13-6), but tallied four double-digit scorers on the night to prevail by nine.
Liutauras Lelevicius (Kaunas, Lithuania) recorded his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He started the game 5-for-5 from three.
Clemson battled through seven lead changes in the first half and led American by four at the break, 39-35.
Cole Certa (Le Roy, Ill./IMG Academy) totaled 10 points for the 11th consecutive game, while adding three rebounds. Dylan Faulkner (Calhoun, Ga./Calhoun) was the fourth Tiger in double-digits, scoring 12 to go along with six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.
Clemson pushed its lead to a game-high 14 points with 2:19 left before closing out the nine-point win over the Eagles.
The Tigers return to the court on Monday, Nov. 9 when they host North Dakota in Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on ACCNX.
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Notes: Clemson improved to 2-0 on the season … the Tigers won their 100th game since the start of the 2022-23 season (100-41) … Clemson improved to 2-0 all-time against American and 14-0 all-time against the Patriot League … Head Coach Brad Brownell won his 318th game at Clemson and his 485th game in his career … Ace Buckner scored a career-high for the second consecutive game with 26 points … Buckner is now the first Clemson guard since at least 2004-05 to record back-to-back 20-point games to open a season … Buckner totaled career highs in field goals (9), threes (5) and assists (6) … Liutauras Lelevicius notched his first career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds … he tied his career high with five made threes (at Kansas, 1-6-26) … the 10 rebounds were a career-best … Cole Certa finished with 10 points for the 11th-straight game … he finished 2025-26 with nine consecutive games of 10+ points and now has 10 in each of the first two games this season … Certa tied his career-high with two steals … Chase Thompson tied his career high with five rebounds and set a new career-best with three offensive rebounds.