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Men's Basketball

Mar 24, 2024

No. 6 Tigers Outlast No. 3 Bears, 72-64, to Advance to Sweet 16

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TIGERS 8-8 FROM LINE IN FINAL 2 MINUTES

BOX SCORE (PDF)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The sixth-seeded Clemson University Men’s Basketball program never trailed, leading by as many as 15 points and holding on late, advancing to the fifth NCAA Sweet Sixteen in program history after a 72-64 victory over No. 3 Baylor (24-11) at FedEx Forum in the West Region. The Tigers (23-11) had a ten-point lead at halftime in the first meeting between the programs since 1983. 

A 16-2 Baylor lead in a late four-minute span narrowed the margin to two, but Clemson went 8-for-8 from the line in the final two minutes to ice the win. 

Clemson advances to play No. 2 Arizona (27-8) at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 28. The Tigers joined NC State, North Carolina and Duke as ACC teams in the Sweet 16. 

Sophomore RJ Godfrey (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett) hit a pair of clutch free throws with 29 seconds to play to give Clemson a 68-64 lead, and added two more with 8.3 seconds left to ice the game. 

Chase Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) paced the Tigers offensively for a second straight game, netting 20 points on 5-for-10 shooting, and hit seven of his eight free throw attempts while handing out a team-high six assists. Hunter had scored 20 or more points once in the 2023-24 regular season before doing so in both NCAA Tournament games this week. 

“We were hanging on for dear life at the end, but I thought our defense for 38 minutes was unbelievable,” said Head Coach Brad Brownell in his postgame interview on TNT. 

The Tigers held Baylor to 64 points, their third-lowest offensive output of the season, and a 6-of-24 (.250) mark from behind the arc. Clemson hit 20-of-24 (.833) of its free throw attempts, while Baylor was unable to capitalize, hitting 16-of-26 and missing three one-and-one front-ends in the second half. 

Ian Schieffelin (Loganville, Ga./Grayson) added 11 points and six rebounds, while Joe Girard III (Glens Falls, N.Y./Glens Falls) added 13 points, including a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to give the Tigers a six-point advantage.

PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) finished with 11 points in just 19 minutes as he battled foul trouble throughout before fouling out with 36.2 seconds to play. 

After the teams traded three-pointers and were tied 5-5 in the first four minutes, Jack Clark’s (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) layup with 16:34 remaining in the first half gave the Tigers the lead for good. Hunter’s double-pump buzzer-beater from 25 feet just before halftime gave Clemson the 35-25 lead heading into the half. 

Clemson stretched its lead to 14 six minutes into the second half, and led by 15 minutes after Schieffelin made a jumper with 6:44 to play. The Bears roared back with a 16-2 run to pull within two points at 64-62 with 2:18 to play. But Clemson went 8-for-8 as a team from the free throw stripe in the final two minutes to seal the win. 

Men's Fanatics Branded Black Clemson Tigers 2024 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament March Madness Sweet Sixteen Defensive Stance T-Shirt

 

 

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