Tigers Host Appalachian State Wednesday

Dec. 4, 2001

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Game 8:Clemson vs. Appalachian State Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001 7:00 PM (EST) Littlejohn Coliseum (10,020) Clemson, SC

TV: NoneRadio: Clemson Tiger Sports PropertiesPlay By Play: Jim Phillips * Color Analyst: Tim Bourret

Clemson Hosts Appalachian State After going 5-2 to open the season with a schedule that had five road games, including games against the Big Ten and the top-ranked team in the country, Clemson comes home to host Appalachian State at 7:00 PM Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Tigers went 2-1 last week with wins at Penn State and against Coastal Carolina. The lone defeat was a 16-point loss at top-ranked Duke on Sunday. It was the closest the Tigers played the Blue Devils in Durham since an 81-80 Duke victory in 1998.

The Tigers are averaging 77.6 points per game and 40.9 rebounds, 16.4 of which are off the offensive glass. Clemson is shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and has three players averaging in double figures. Sophomore Chris Hobbs is the team’s leading scorer with 13.9 points per game. Senior Edward Scott is next on the team with a 10.6 average and junior Ray Henderson is the team’s third leading scorer with 10.1 points per game. Henderson is the team’s leading rebounder with 8.6 boards per game. But Clemson’s offense is also bolstered by two other Tigers who are scoring at least nine points per game: Chey Christie (9.9) and Tony Stockman (9.4).

About the Mountaineers Appalachian State is 3-3 this season after beating Liberty Saturday night in Boone, NC. The Mountaineers have won all three home games (East Carolina, Barton and Liberty) and lost all three road games (Richmond, Charlotte and Tennessee). ASU is led by Josh Shehan who is averaging 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. He is joined in double figures by Graham Bunn who is averaging 10.3 points per game. The Mountaineers averaged 86.0 points per game and 42.5 rebounds.

The Series Clemson leads the all-time series with Appalachian State 7-1, however the Mountaineers won the last meeting between the two schools at Littlejohn Coliseum in 2000, taking a 72-60 victory. The Tigers had won all seven previous meetings dating back to the first game between the schools in 1975. Four of the meetings were in the 1990s, including once each at the Greensboro and Charlotte coliseums. The Other six meetings have all been in Clemson.

Last Time vs. Appalachian State Tyson Patterson scored 23 points, had six rebounds, five assists and four steals leading Appalachian State to a 72-60 victory over Clemson on Jan. 19, 2000. It was the first victory for Appalachian State against Clemson.

The Mountaineers made 45.5 percent of their shots from the field. Clemson led in rebounding (36-33), but the Tigers had six more turnovers than the opposition. Clemson shot just 32.7 percent from the field, including 4-24 on three-point shots.

Adam Allenspach led the Tigers with 24 points, the most by a Clemson center in six years. He made 10-12 free throws, including his last nine. Walker Holt added 12 points off the bench in 20 minutes, including a half-court shot at the end of regulation. Will Solomon scored 12 points, but shot just 2-13 from the field. Andrius Jurkunas was 0-9 from the field, but had a career-high 12 rebounds.

Appalachian State scored the first seven points of the game and never fell behind. Clemson tied the game at nine and 11 and the score was 20-19 with 6:07 left in the half. But, the Tigers went cold and Appalachian State scored behind the play of Patterson and center Corey Cooper, who was 6-8 from the field for the game. Buzz Peterson’s team had a 35-26 lead at intermission.

The lead grew to 16 at 42-26 in the first four minutes of the second half. Clemson, behind Solomon’s only two three-point goals of the game, and some inside scoring by Allenspach, cut the lead to 46-41 at the 12:42 mark. But, that was as close as Clemson got. The Mountaineers stretch the lead back to 54-43 at the 8:50 mark on a jumper by Rufus Leach. They held a double-digit lead most of the rest of the game.

Next Five at Littlejohn Coliseum After playing five of the first seven games of the season on the road, the Tigers return home to Littlejohn Coliseum, where it will play its next five games. Appalachian State is the first opponent. Rival South Carolina comes in on Saturday and then after a week off for final exams, the Tigers will host Elon (Dec. 15), Winthrop (Dec. 18) and Charleston Southern (Dec. 22) before Christmas break. Clemson will take to the road for one final road game, at Hartford, a game that will be part of a doubleheader between the men’s and women’s teams from both schools that will be played in Norwich, CT, on Dec. 28. The Tigers will then return for the final conference tuneup against Yale on Jan. 2.

Clemson Falls at Duke Clemson sophomore forward Chris Hobbs scored 25 points and freshman guard Chey Christie added 21 to lead the Tiger offense in a 96-80 defeat at Duke last Sunday. The Tigers, which shot 43 percent, out-rebounded the Blue Devils 42-29. Clemson had nine more offensive rebounds than Duke, but only converted them into 13 points. Edward Scott added 11 points, seven assists and six rebounds in another fine all-around performance. He had eight points, nine assists and seven rebounds at the win over Penn State last Wednesday. After a 9-9 tie early in the game, Duke pulled away for a 14-point first half advantage. But the Tigers fought back to pull within three points with just under three minutes to go in the first half before trailing by six at intermission. In the second half steadily built its lead to 23 with 6:17 to play before Clemson managed to pull within 12 with 44 seconds to go. The Blue Devils margin of victory was 16 points. It was the closest margin at the final buzzer since 1998 when the Tigers lost 81-80.

Carlos Boozer scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. He was 6-9 from the floor and was 11-15 from the free throw line. Five other Blue Devils scored in double figures.

Chey Christie Named ACC Rookie of the Week Clemson’s Chey Christie was tabbed as the ACC Rookie of the Week after averaging 15.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists in the Tigers’ three games last week. The Hartford, CT, freshman scored a career-high 21 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Sunday’s 96-80 loss to top-ranked Duke. Earlier in the week, Christie was Clemson’s second-leading scorer with 16 points in the win over Penn State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Against Coastal Carolina on Friday evening, Christie tallied nine points with three assists and three steals.