Tigers Host Seminoles On Senior Day

March 1, 2001

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Clemson on “Senior Day” Clemson senior Adam Allenspach will be playing his final home game when the Tigers meet Florida State on Saturday afternoon at High Noon at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson has been very successful on “Senior Night” since the 1971-72 season. In that time, the Tigers are 24-5 in the final home game for the regular season. That record included a couple of years when Clemson did not have a senior, the most recent being 1995-96. This will be the second straight year Clemson has had just one senior for its “Senior Night” activities.

Clemson is 13-5 over the last 28 years in “Senior Night” games against ACC teams. Clemson has won just 33 percent of its ACC games during that time span, so it does appear that “Senior Night” has an impact. The stretch includes a 92-64 win over Georgia Tech in 1998-99. Senior Terrell McIntyre had 22 points and 10 assists, while senior Tony Christie had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Clemson’s only “Senior Night” losses since 1972 have come to an eighth-ranked North Carolina team (1997), a number-one ranked Duke team (1992 and 1986), to a fourth-ranked Duke team (1999-00) to an unranked Georgia Tech team (1993).

Overall, Clemson is 63-26 in the final regular season home game. The most recent standout performance by a senior on senior night took place in 1998 when Greg Buckner scored 29 points in his final home game as a Tiger. Last year Clemson lost to Duke, 92-78 on “Senior Night”.

Allenspach Closes Out Home Career Adam Allenspach will be the only senior in the Clemson lineup when the Tigers close out the home schedule on Sunday. Allenspach has been a part of an NCAA tournament team (1997-98), an NIT Finalist (1998-99) and just the second team in Clemson history to upset the nation’s top ranked team (2000-01).

For his career, Allenspach has played in 115 games, 53 as a starter. He has averaged 18 minutes a game during that time and has averaged 6.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. He has scored 730 pounds and collected 486 career rebounds. He is a 70 percent free throw shooter, one of the best in Clemson history for a center, and has made 47 percent from the field.

This season, despite being troubled by back ailments, Allenspach has averaged 8.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. He is third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding. His injuries have allowed him to play in just eight ACC games for a total of 116 minutes.

His high scoring game took place against Appalachian State on January 19, 1990 when he scored 24 points. His rebound high is 15 against South Carolina on December 9, 2000. His finest ACC performance took place against Maryland last year when he had 20 points and 10 rebounds in a head to head battle with Terps center Lonny Baxter. Allenspach has 12 career double-doubles, six as a junior and six as a senior. All six this year came in the first nine games of the season.

Loss of Allenspach Had Impact The loss of Adam Allenspach for most of the ACC season had a big impact on Clemson, especially in terms of post defense. The comparison was never so obvious as in the two games with Georgia Tech. With Allenspach on the bench in street clothes due to a back ailment, Georgia Tech center Alvin Jones scored a season high 26 points in a Tech victory. With Allenspach back in the lineup last Sunday, Jones scored just two points and was 0-6 from the field.

The game at Tech was Allenspach’s top performance since January 2 when he had nine points and seven rebounds against Maryland. Allenspach had eight points against Tech on Feb. 25th and more importantly challenged Jones on the inside.

Clemson’s only senior on the roster has played just 116 minutes in eight conference games this year. The 7-1 center, who has played 114 games in his Clemson career, missed time due to inflammation of the Sacroilliac Joint (where hip meets the spine). The problem caused back spasms and a loss of motion and mobility. He did not play at all from Jan. 18 to Feb. 13.

Allenspach had six double-doubles within the first nine games of the season and was leading the ACC in that category as the Tigers ran to a 7-2 start. He was still in the top five in the ACC in double-doubles last week, even though he has missed seven games completely. He was averaging 13 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for the first nine games. But, he started to have back trouble in the tournament in Puerto Rico. He then missed Clemson’s first game after Christmas against Charleston Southern.

In addition to scoring and rebounding, Allenspach has an impact on the defensive end. Although he is not a big shot blocker, he plays strong post defense and the proof is in the statistics of the opposition. Last year, with Allenspach playing all but one game, opposing starting centers shot just 45.5 percent from the field, averaged just 5.4 rebounds and 6.3 points per game. Only six games did an opposing starting center score in double figures, only once (Lonny Baxter) did an opposing starting center score more than 15 points.

For the first 13 games this year the trend continued. With Allenspach in the lineup, opposing centers connected on just 43.8 percent from the field and averaged just 6.1 points and 4.5 rebounds. But, in the next 10 games, with Allenspach playing just 48 total minutes, opposing starting centers connected on 61.3 percent of their field goals (46-75), averaged 14.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Three times the opposing starting center reached 24 points or more. Only twice in the first 13 games this year did the opposing starting center score in double figures.

Allenspach Achieved Triple Leadership at South Carolina Adam Allenspach pulled off a rare achievement in Clemson’s loss to South Carolina in December. The 7-1 center led the Tigers in scoring (15), assists (4) and rebounding (15). Leading Clemson in scoring and rebounding is not an earth shattering accomplishment for Allenspach, but adding in assists makes it an unusual accomplishment. In fact, he also led Clemson in blocked shots in the game, meaning he led the Tigers in four important categories.

Leading Clemson in all three areas in the same game is rare. Below is a list of Clemson players who have done it in the last 31 years (since assists were kept as an official stat). Terrell McIntyre did it twice in his career. Allenspach was the first to do it as a center since Sharone Wright against UT Arlington in 1993-94. David Angel is the only other center to do it and he did it twice.

Clemson vs. Florida State Series *This is the 33rd meeting between Clemson and Florida State in men’s basketball. The Seminoles hold an 18-14 lead. The two teams have split regular season competition each of the last two years with each team winning on its home court. Florida State continued the streak earlier this year with an 88-84 overtime victory in Tallahassee. Florida State won an 87-85 overtime game in the 1999 ACC Tournament and thus has a 4-2 lead in games played over the last three years.

oOver the last three years Clemson has won the two games at Clemson by 33 and 26 points, respectively. Florida State has won the three games in Tallahassee by six, three and four points, respectively. Clemson’s 78-45 win over Florida State at Littlejohn Coliseum in 1998-99 was the second largest margin of victory in Clemson history in an ACC game. The Tigers led by 22 at the half.

*Clemson has won each of the last three, and four of the last five meetings with Florida State in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson has won each of the last three games at Littlejohn by at least 20 points, an 86-65 victory in 1997-98, the 33-point win in 1998-99 and the 26-point win last year.

*Over the last nine meetings, Florida State has won five games and Clemson has won four. Clemson’s average margin of victory in those three wins is 27 points a game. Florida State’s average margin in its five victories in that time is 3.5 points.

*Clemson swept Florida State with two of its most impressive games of the 1997-98 season. Clemson won the game at Clemson, 86-65, its highest scoring ACC game of the season. Florida State was ranked 17th in the nation entering the contest. Clemson won at Tallahassee 78-49, the largest margin of victory in an ACC road game in school history.

*Clemson and FSU first met in the 1952 Gator Bowl Tournament in Jacksonville, FL. The Tigers won 62-56 and in fact won the first three games of the series, one in Jacksonville, one in Charlotte and one in Clemson.

*Since Florida State joined the ACC in 1991-92, the Seminoles have won 14 of the 21 meetings. Clemson’s top victory in that time came in the 1993 ACC Tournament in Charlotte. Clemson defeated a 10th ranked Florida State team, 87-75. That victory, led by Clemson future NBA players Sharone Wright, Chris Whitney and Devin Gray, broke a 27-game Clemson losing streak in the Tournament as a lower seeded team.

Kennedy and Maravich Coached at Midcourt One of the more unique games of the series took place before Florida State was in the ACC. On January 8, 1962, Clemson defeated FSU 75-69. In that game, both coaches, Bud Kennedy of Florida State, and Press Maravich of Clemson, sat side-by-side at midcourt while the game was in progress.

Both coaches, who were good friends, had dinner together the night before the game at Sports Information Director Bob Bradley’s home in Clemson and decided to watch the game together. During timeouts they huddled with their team, then returned to their chairs at midcourt. Clemson defeated a 15-8 Florida State team twice that season.

Earlier This Year Florida State 88, Clemson 84 Jan. 31, 2001 at Tallahassee, FL Florida State made 12-16 free throws in overtime and scored 20 points overall in the extra session and defeated Clemson 88-84 in overtime at Tallahassee, FL on January 31, 2001. It was the first conference win of the season for the Seminoles, who have now won five games by six points or less over the Tigers in Tallahassee since 1994.

Will Solomon led the Tigers with perhaps his finest all-around game of the year. The junior scored 25 points, had six rebounds and six assists in his 40 minutes of play. He made 6-13 three-point shots and held Florida State’s Adrian Crawford to 4-14 shooting for the night. Freshman Chris Hobbs added 17 points and11 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season. He made 6-12 shots from the field and had eight offensive rebounds.

Ray Henderson added nine points, including a short jumper with four seconds left to send the game into overtime. Edward Scott had nine of his 11 points in the last five minutes of regulation and the overtime period, while Tony Stockman added 10 points. Five players scored in double figures for Florida State, led by senior guard Delvon Arrington, who had 16 points and seven assists.

Clemson was without the services of Adam Allenspach, who was out with a back ailment. Still, the smaller Tigers won the rebounding battle, 43-42. Clemson showed a much improved defense over its game with Virginia, holding the Seminoles to 41 percent shooting, 36 percent on three-point shots.

Clemson got off to a difficult start offensively, hitting just 4-19 from the field to open the game. Florida State had a 34-20 lead with three minutes left in the half. But, Clemson closed with a 10-4 run and trailed by just eight at the half. Florida State stretched the lead again to double figures, holding a 58-45 lead with 8:35 left. Clemson was still down 60-50 at the 6:30 mark, but mounted a comeback. Clemson took a 64-63 lead on a jumper by Tony Stockman with just 3:08 left.

The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way until Henderson’s jumper tied the score. But Florida State went on a 13-4 run to open the overtime. Clemson trailed by nine with 38 seconds left, then cut the margin to two with five seconds remaining, but that was as close as the Tigers got.

Clemson 84, Florida State 58 Last Meeting at Clemson Feb. 12, 2000 at Clemson, SC Will Solomon scored 33 points, including 15 consecutive points at one stretch late in the game, leading Clemson to a 84-58 win over Florida State on Feb. 12, 2000 at Littlejohn Coliseum. 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 just seven turnovers and that 3.43 assist/turnover ratio is the third best in Clemson history in an ACC game. Adam Allenspach had a career 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 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 a 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.

Last Outing Virginia 84, Clemson 65 Virginia outscored Clemson 12-5 over the last three minutes of the game and went on to an 84-65 win over Clemson in Charlottesville on Feb. 28th. The seventh-ranked Cavaliers closed out their home schedule with the victory, their 20th of the season.

Clemson outshot Virginia, made more free throws and won the rebounding battle. But, a season high 25 turnovers and just five made three-point goals compared to 11 by the Cavs gave Pete Gillen’s team the victory in front of 7,867 fans. Virginia outscored Clemson 33-7 in terms of points off turnovers.

Clemson was led by Tomas Nagys. The sophomore from Lithuania had 19 points and nine rebounds in just 21 minutes of play. It was his career high in scoring, in fact 11 more points than he had scored in a game previously. The rebound total tied his career high. He also made two three-point goals, the third and fourth of his career.

Dwon Clifton added 10 points (his season high) and seven rebounds to go with three steals in 21 active minutes. Those were the only two Tigers in double figures. Chris Hobbs had seven points and nine rebounds, while Jamar McKnight and Will Solomon also had seven points.

Solomon played just 18 minutes as he battled a flu virus. The 20-point scorer was too sick to travel with the team to Charlottesville on Tuesday. He flew in a Clemson University plane on Wednesday afternoon, joined the team at the hotel and came to the arena with the team on Wednesday. He shot just 1-7 from the field, but did made 5-7 free throws. It just just the third time in his last 57 games that he failed to reach double figures.

Clemson stayed with the heavily favored Cavaliers throughout the contest. Clemson trailed by just 34-31 at the three-minute mark of the first half. With 1:29 left, and Virginia up by five, Tomas Nagys was called for an intentional foul. Then, the Clemson bench was issued a technical foul in an ensuing disagreement with the call. That led to a nine-point (42-33) Virginia lead at halftime.

The two teams battled on even terms in the second half. The first 10 minutes of the half the margin was between 11 and 14 points. Eight times Clemson had a possession in which it could have cut the lead to 10 or nine points, but never could convert. Virginia hit three-point shots on its last two possessions to make the margin 19, its largest of the game.

Tigers Upset #1 Clemson 75, #1 North Carolina 65 Clemson rode a 26-point performance from Will Solomon, plus 16 from freshman guard Tony Stockman and upset number-one ranked North Carolina 75-65 at a sold out Littlejohn Coliseum on Feb. 18, 2001. It was just the second time in Clemson history and the first time in 21 years that the Tigers upset the nation’s top ranked team.

Clemson also had outstanding play off the bench from Tomas Nagys. McKnight, who had scored just 27 points in ACC play all year, had eight points in 17 minutes off the bench. He made 4-7 shots, had five rebounds and did not commit a turnover. Nagys had five points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. His two field goals were spectacular and were scored in the clutch. One was a three-pointer, just the second of his career, and another was a diving shot from 10 feet out over Julius Peppers. They were scored on consecutive Clemson possessions that gave the Tigers a nine-point lead with nine minutes left.

Solomon scored his 26 points in just 25 minutes. He also had four rebounds and three assists and connected on 5-12 three-point shots. Stockman scored 4-9 three-point goals in tallying his 16 points. He had just one turnover in 35 minutes of play. Point guard Edward Scott scored had nine points, four assists and no turnovers in 34 minutes. Freshman Chris Hobbs added six points and a team best eight rebounds.

North Carolina was led by Jason Capel, Brendan Haywood and Joseph Forte, who all scored 16 points apiece. Forte entered the game second in the ACC in scoring behind Will Solomon by just two total points (489-487). But, the gifted North Carolina guard made just 6-19 shots from the field, 0-4 on three-point attempts.

The much smaller Tigers won the rebounding battle, 44-41. Both teams committed just seven turnovers. It was the lowest turnover total all year for the Tigers. North Carolina made just 38.5 percent of its field goal attempts, its low figure for the year. That included just 1-14 three-point shots in the second half. The Tar Heels made just 7-15 from the foul line.

North Carolina held a 35-30 lead at intermission behind 13 points from Jason Capel. Clemson held Forte to just one point in the first half. Clemson was led by Stockman and Solomon with eight points apiece.

The Tar Heels expanded the margin to seven at 37-30 to open the second half. But, Will Solomon scored 10 consecutive points in a 3:04 time span to tie the score at 42. A reverse layup by Jamar McKnight at the 15:11 mark, put Clemson up 44-42. North Carolina never regained the lead. Clemson went on a 7-0 run, five of the points by Nagys, to take a 54-45 lead at the 9:11 mark.

Forte finally got going at this point. He scored eight straight points at one stretch, then a Brendan Haywood dunk brought North Carolina to within 61-60 with 3:48 left. He was called for a technical on the play for grabbing the rim. Will Solomon made the free throw, then Clemson missed a shot. On the next possession, freshman Tony Stockman stole the ball and scored to give Clemson a 64-60 lead.

Tony Stockman made a three-point shot with 44 seconds left to give Clemson a seven point lead. The Tigers made 7-7 free throws in the last minute to ice the game. Clemson went on an 11-3 run to finish off the Tar Heels.

Clemson’s Top Five Wins In History

How Shocking an Upset? Here are some facts on Clemson’s upset of #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18, 2001 oClemson had lost eight straight games, while North Carolina, ranked number-one in the nation, had won 18 in a row. North Carolina was first in the ACC standings with a perfect 11-0 record, while Clemson was last with a 1-10 mark.

oClemson was coming off a 34-point loss at NC State, its largest margin of defeat against the Pack since 1955. North Carolina had eight days to prepare for the game.

oClemson entered in the game with an eight-game losing streak, its longest since 1971-72 when it had a nine-game losing streak. North Carolina’s 18-game winning streak was the longest in the nation and the Tar Heels longest since 1986-87.

oClemson had lost 19 in a row to the nation’s number-one ranked team dating to January 9, 1980, an 87-82 overtime victory against #1 Duke. Clemson was 1-22 lifetime against the number-one team in the nation heading into the contest.

oClemson had been 0-10 when playing a #1 ranked North Carolina team. oClemson had been 0-9 against top 25 teams in 2000-01 and had lost 12 in a row over ranked teams dating to last year’s win over 21st ranked North Carolina State.

oClemson had been 1-12 this year when trailing at halftime. The Tigers trailed 35-30 at halftime of this game. t was just the third time since the 1952-53 season that Clemson had trailed at the half against North Carolina, then came back to gain victory.

oClemson had been 8-20 all-time in games played on February 18th, Clemson’s worst winning percentage of the 29 days in the month of February. oClemson had lost 12 straight games over two years when it had just two or fewer players in double figures. Clemson had just two, Will Solomon and Tony Stockman, in the win over North Carolina.

oMatt Doherty had never lost as a player or coach to Clemson, 10-0 as a player, 1-0 as a coach.

oNorth Carolina shot 38.5 percent from the field against Clemson, the Tar Heels’ worst field goal percentage of the season. Clemson entered the game allowing 47 percent field goal accuracy in ACC play, seventh best in the league. North Carolina made just 8-26 three-point goals, including just 1-14 in the second half. Clemson entered the game eighth in the ACC in three-point goal percentage defense in league play (.393).

Biggest Upset in College Basketball in 23 Year You can make a case that Clemson’s 75-65 win over #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18 was the biggest upset in college basketball in 23 years. What do we use for a basis? Clemson’s victory marked the first time since the 1978-79 season that a team with a losing record after January 15 defeated the number-one team in the nation.

You have to go back to Feb. 22, 1979 to find the last time a team with a losing record after January 15 defeated the number-one team in the nation. That day a 10-13 Washington team defeated UCLA 69-68. There have been four other occasions over the last 23 years that a team with a losing record has defeated the number-one team in the country. Two of the times the upsetting team was 0-1. One of the instances took place this year when an 0-1 Purdue team defeated #1 Arizona on November 25 in Indianapolis. The other took place on December 4, 1993 when an 0-1 Indiana team upset #1 Kentucky, 96-84.

On December 22, 1995 a 2-4 Temple team defeated #1 Kansas in the Meadowlands, 74-66. Finally, on January 8, 1994 a 3-5 Alabama team defeated #1 Arkansas, 66-64 at Alabama.

It is interesting to note that four of the five times this year the number-one team has been upset, the team doing the upsetting was coming off a loss. Two teams, Clemson and UCLA, were coming off a loss of at least 30 points. Clemson’s 10-point victory was the largest margin over the #1 team since Florida defeated #1 Duke in the NCAA Tournament last year, 78-65.

Tigers Have 2 Wins over #1 Tar Heel Teams this Year Clemson’s victory over North Carolina on the hardcourt on Feb. 18 was not the first time Clemson has beaten a number-one ranked Tar Heel team this year. Back in September, Clemson’s women’s soccer program upset a number-one ranked North Carolina team 2-1 at Clemson’s Riggs Field. That was the first time Clemson has beaten the number-one team in women’s soccer.

The win over North Carolina on the hardcourt marked the 21st time in the school’s sports history that the Tigers had gained a win over the #1 ranked team in the nation. Clemson has beaten the number-one team in the nation in six different sports: baseball (9 times), men’s soccer (5 times), men’s tennis (twice), women’s basketball (twice), men’s basketball (twice) and women’s soccer (once).

This is the first time Clemson has beaten the number-one team in two different sports in the same academic year since 1993-94 when the men’s soccer team defeated a number-one ranked Virginia team in the fall and the baseball team followed with two wins over a #1 Georgia Tech team in the spring.

Both of the wins over number-one this year took place on the Clemson campus, a rarity. These were just the fifth and sixth times Clemson has upset number-one at Clemson. Ten times Clemson has pulled off the upset on the number-one team’s home facility, while the other five have taken place at a neutral site.

Academic Excellence Five members of the Clemson men’s basketball team made the academic honor roll for the fall semester this year, tied for the highest total in Clemson history. The total tied the record of five set for the spring semester last year. Since Larry Shyatt has been the head coach at Clemson (this is his sixth semester), Clemson has had 18 academic honor roll selections. The players named to the academic honor roll for the first semester were Adam Allenspach, Pasha Bains, Walker Holt, Beau Shay and Wes Long.

Clemson had five selections to the ACC Academic honor roll for the 1999-00 academic year, most in history. That team is composed of players who have had a 3.0 GPA or better for the academic year. Allenspach, Holt and Bains were also on that list along with J.D. Powell and Jeremy Shyatt. Bains now has a 3.38 career GPA and was a CoSIDA Academic All-District nominee for this year.

Allenspach and Bains were recently honored at Clemson’s Student-Athlete Academic Awards banquet on Feb. 20th at the Madren Center on the Clemson campus. Bains was named to the Clemson All-Academic team, one of 17 people named from all sports at Clemson. He was also honored as one of two recipients of The Arthur Ashe Award, an honor given to minority student-athletes for outstanding academic and athletic achievement. The football team’s Jackie Robinson was the other recipient.

Allenspach was a recipient of a Top Six Award, which is presented by the ACC for outstanding participation in community service. Erin Batth, from the Lady Tigers basketball team was also one of the six recipients.

Hobbs, Stockman ACC All-Rookie Team Candidates Clemson currently has the top freshman scorer and top freshman rebounder in the ACC. Tiger reserve guard Tony Stockman paces the league’s freshmen in scoring with a 12.1 average, while classmate Chris Hobbs is the top freshman rebounder in the league with a 6.6 figure. Both are candidates for the ACC All-Rookie team this year.

Both figured prominently in Clemson’s win over #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18. Stockman scored 16 points, including five in the last two minutes of the game, helping the Tigers to the 10-point Clemson win. He made four three-point goals in the contest, including one with 44 seconds left that iced the game. Hobbs was Clemson’s top rebounder in the game with eight and he scored six points on 3-4 shooting. Hobbs and Stockman scored seven of Clemson’s final 16 points.

Both played well in Clemson’s recent game at Georgia Tech. Stockman was Clemson’s top scorer with 14 points, while Hobbs had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes of play.

The only Clemson freshman in history to lead ACC rookies in scoring is Skip Wise, who averaged 18.5 points a game in 1974-75. Only twice has Clemson had the top freshman rebounder in the league. Dale Davis did it in 1987-88 (7.7) and Tree Rollins did it in 1973-74 (12.2). Clemson has never had the top freshman scorer and rebounder in the ACC in the same year.

Only once in ACC history have two different freshmen from the same ACC team led the league’s rookies in scoring and rebounding. In 1989-90 Kenny Anderson led the ACC freshman in scoring with a 20.6 figure, while Malcom Mackey led the rookie rebounders with a 7.5 figure.

Both Hobbs and Stockman are among the league leaders in other areas as well. Stockman stands sixth in the league in three-point goal percentage and is sixth in three-point goals per game. He now has 65 for the season, a Clemson freshman record. In fact, he has 14 more three-point goals than any other freshman in Clemson history.

Hobbs stands 11th in the ACC in rebounds overall, but is sixth in ACC games. He is the only freshman in the ACC shooting at least 50 percent from the field and 70 percent from the foul line. He is shooting 55.6 percent from the field and 72.4 percent from the line through 26 games played.

Hobbs and Stockman Chasing Freshman Records Clemson freshmen Chris Hobbs and Tony Stockman are both chasing Clemson freshman records. Stockman already has one mark, his 65 three-point goals rank first among freshmen in Clemson history. Chris Hobbs .556 field goal percentage is on a record pace, ahead of Elden Campbell’s .554 mark.

Here are the Clemson freshman records in some categories and the ranking of current Clemson freshmen.

Scott Free Throw Stopped at 23 in Row Edward Scott had his streak of 23 consecutive made free throws snapped when he missed his second attempt at Virginia on Feb. 28th. Scott had gone nearly two months without a miss, all in ACC games. The streak was the longest by a Tiger in 17 years. Scott, a sophomore point guard, made 23 consecutive free throws dating to the first game with Maryland on January 2 at Littlejohn Coliseum. For the year he has made 42-52 for .808, but he is an even more impressive 23-26 (.885) in ACC play. That includes a 4-4 performance inside the last minute of Clemson’s win over #1 North Carolina.

Scott’s free throw streak was the longest by a Clemson player since Anthony Jenkins made 24 in a row, his last 19 of the 1982-83 season and his first five of the 1983-84 season. The Clemson record is 41 in a row by Jim Brennan, set in the 1961-62 season. The ACC mark is 48 in a row by Jeff Lamp of Virginia in 1979-80. The national record, set this year, is 73 in a row by Gary Buchanan of Villanova. Buchanan had made 84-86 from the foul line .977 through games played of February 19.

Scott Running the Offense Clemson point guard Edward Scott has scored in double figures in seven of his last 15 games, all against ACC competition. That included a 5-6 shooting game at Georgia Tech when he scored 10 points and had a career high tying seven assists. He made 2-2 shots at Virginia and has now made 7 of his last 8 field goal attempts.

Scott recently had one of the top games of his career against Duke. He tallied 15 points against the #3 team in the nation, his high point total against an ACC opponent as a Clemson player. He also had a career-high eight rebounds and held Jason Williams to more turnovers (10) than points (8).

Scott has done a good job running the Clemson offense. He has 112 assists and 70 turnovers. He has significantly surpassed his assist total for all of last year when he had 69 assists in 789 minutes. He has had more turnovers than assists in just four games all season.

Scott was an efficient four assists and no turnovers in the win over #1 North Carolina on Feb. 18. He did that in 34 minutes, tying his personal high for minutes played without a turnover.

Solomon Averages 20 a Game Clemson guard Will Solomon has been a consistent 20-point scorer for the Tigers over the last two years. In fact, for his last 57 games he has a 20.79 average. He has 1171 points in just 57 games, 30 games as a sophomore and 26 games so far this season. The chart below shows that Solomon has not padded his stats in games at home, games against non-conference teams or games against unranked opponents. His stats are similar to last year when he made first-team All-ACC.

Solomon’s 41-point Outing Sixth Best in Clemson History Will Solomon’s 41-point scoring game against Georgia Tech was the sixth highest scoring performance in Clemson history. It was just the seventh game of 40 points or more by a Tiger player dating to 1912, the first year of Clemson basketball. Solomon, Bill Yarborough and Butch Zatezalo now each have two 40-point scoring games apiece.

Solomon is the only Clemson player since 1970 to have a 40-point scoring game. Butch Zatezalo was the last player before Solomon to do it. Solomon made 13-22 shots from the field, 7-12 three-point attempts and 8-9 from the foul line in his 41-point game against Tech. He played all 40 minutes. The native of East Hartford, CT scored 26 points in the first half when he made 8-12 from the field, including 6 of his first 7.

J.O. Erwin has the Clemson single game scoring record with 58 points in just the second game in Clemson basketball history. Erwin had 29 field goals for 58 total points in Clemson’s 78-6 win that afternoon. It was actually the second game of the day for Erwin and the Tigers. Earlier at Furman, Erwin had 22 points in a win over Furman. Thus, he scored 80 points that day, the reason Clemson has a single day scoring record that is different from its single game scoring record in the Clemson basketball press guide.

Solomon Career Scoring Average 8th in Clemson History With his recent scoring burst, Will Solomon has moved to 8th in Clemson history on the points per game chart and he is now 10th in total points. Solomon has averaged at least 20 points a game over the last two years to raise his average to 15.2 for his 91-game career.

Solomon now ranks third among players who played during an era of freshman eligibility. Bill Yarborough is the only player who played four years that is above Solomon. All the others were not eligible until their sophomore years under NCAA rules during the 1953-73 period. (Note that Randy Mahaffey played part of a fourth season, but red-shirted due to injury).

Solomon has moved to 10th in Clemson history in total points scored (1384). He went ahead of Larry Nance with his 26-point outing against North Carolina on Feb. 18. Next on the list is Tree Rollins with 1463. Solomon is second in career three-point goals (202), third in three-point goals per game (2.20), eighth in three-point percentage (.361), sixth in 20-point games (29), and eighth in scoring average.

Solomon Outstanding vs. Ranked Teams Will Solomon has been outstanding against top flight competition this year. In 12 games against top 20 teams he has scored 237 points, a 19.8 average. Solomon has five games of at least 30 points this year and four of them have come against Top 20 teams. His most important performance against a ranked team came Feb. 18 when he scored 26 points in just 25 minutes in Clemson’s upset of #1 North Carolina.

Solomon Had 6 Straight 20-point Games Clemson guard Will Solomon scored at least 20 points in six consecutive games between December 20 to January 2. The junior from East Hartford, CT averaged 26.2 points a game during the six games. The streak was stopped at Duke when he was held to 13 points by 6-6 Blue Devil forward Nate James.

Solomon tallied 32 points in two of the games in the streak, both against ranked opponents. He had 32 in an eight-point loss to 20th-ranked Cincinnati and also had 32 in Clemson’s 12-point loss to 17th-ranked Maryland. Playing well against top opposition is nothing new for Solomon. Last year he had a higher scoring average in ACC games than in non-conference contests.

Solomon’s streak of six consecutive 20-point games was the longest since Horace Grant had six straight during the 1986-87 season, the year he became Clemson’s only ACC MVP. Grant’s streak was stopped by North Carolina when he scored 19. The Clemson record for consecutive 20-point games is 19, held by the late Bill Yarborough. He scored at least 20 in the last three games of 1953-54 and the first 16 of the 1954-55 season. Yarborough averaged 28.3 points a game in 1954-55 and scored at least 20 in every game. His only non-20 point game was an 18-point outing.

Solomon has already established one Clemson streak record this year. He scored in double figures in 52 straight games, every game in 1999-00 and all but one game (at NC State) this year. The streak was broken at NC State on Feb. 14 when he took just seven shots and scored seven points. It also broke his 27-game streak in ACC play.

The previous Clemson mark was by Vince Yockel, who had 36 in a row over two seasons in the 1950s. Solomon’s 52-game streak was 16th longest in ACC history.

Hobbs Shooting Stats Outstanding Freshman Chris Hobbs has made 22 of his last 34 shots (.647) from the field and has elevated his field goal percentage to .556 for the season. Hobbs is also shooting 72.4 percent from the foul line so far this season. The rookie from Chapel Hill is trying to join an exclusive group of Tiger freshmen who have made at least 50 percent of their shots from the field and 70 percent from the foul line.

There have been just four Clemson freshmen in history who have shot at least 50 percent from the field and 70 percent from the foul line, none since Elden Campbell turned the accomplishment in 1986-87. That year, Campbell hit 55.4 percent from the field and 70.2 percent from the line as an understudy to senior ACC Player of the Year Horace Grant. As you can see by the chart below, Grant also accomplished the feat in 1983-84. Vincent Hamilton (1980-81) and Fred Gilliam (1979-80) are the only other Clemson freshmen to do it.

It is apparent that shooting 50 percent from the field and 70 percent from the line in the same season is no easy accomplishment. A check to the final stats shows that no Clemson players, regardless of class, has done it since 1991-92. That year, junior Corey Wallace shot 53.8 percent from the field and 71.2 percent from the foul line.

Hobbs Pulling in the Rebounds Clemson freshman Chris Hobbs has taken over the team lead in total rebounds this year with 178. He had 13 at Wake Forest, his second highest total of the year. He had 15 in a game against The Citadel earlier this year, most by a Clemson freshman in five years. He has jumped ahead of Adam Allenspach in terms of total rebounds, but Allenspach has the higher average.

He was very efficient at Georgia Tech with 10 rebounds in just 18 minutes. He had nine rebounds in 31 minutes at Virginia.

How productive has Hobbs been when it comes to carom collecting? When comparing Hobbs against the great Clemson rebounders in history his freshman rebounds per minute figure stands second only to Tree Rollins. Rollins grabbed a rebound every 2.52 minutes his freshman season (1973-74), while Hobbs gets one every 3.01 minutes. Hobbs is ahead of the freshman pace set by such greats as Dale Davis, Elden Campbell, Horace Grant, Sharone Wright and Larry Nance.

His father, Greg Hobbs, is a videographer for Duke Medical Center. In his spare time, he has served as a videographer for Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s television show. Many times Chris tagged a long to watch the game. Both of his parents are North Carolina graduates.

Hobbs Scores 28 vs. Virginia While Chris Hobbs has been a strong rebounder, he has also been a solid inside scorer at times this year. That was never as obvious as the Virginia game of January 27th. In that contest, Hobbs scored a season high 28 points on 10-13 shooting from the field and 8-9 shooting from the foul line. That was the most points in a game by a Clemson freshman since 1995-96 when Terrell McIntyre scored 29. It was the most points by a Clemson freshman front court player since the 1982-83 season when Anthony Jenkins scored 30 against Duke.

Hobbs is now averaging 8.7 points in conference games, 7.4 overall. He is third on the team in scoring in conference games and first in rebounding in league contests. Overall, he is fourth in scoring and second in rebounding on the Clemson team. His 55.6 percent field goal accuracy is best on the Clemson team.

Nagys Play Improved Sophomore forward Tomas Nagys had a career high 19 points and career high tying nine rebounds at Virginia on Feb. 28th. He did that in just 21 minutes of play. That performance included 2-2 on three-point shots and he is now at 4-7 for the year from long range. He did not make a three-point goal last year.

Over his last seven games, Nagys has averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. For the first 18 games of the year he averaged just 1.8 points and 3.2 rebounds. His field goal shooting has improved from 25.8 percent to 47.2 percent in those time periods. His playing time has also gone up from 10.4 minutes per game for the first 18 games of the year to 19 minutes per game the last seven.

Nagys began his strong play at Maryland on Feb. 4. The 6-9 forward scored seven points and had a career-high nine rebounds against Maryland’s strong frontline of Lonny Baxter and Terence Morris. He also had two blocked shots and three steals, best by a Tiger in the game, for his 27 minutes of play.

The point total included his first career three-point goal, he had missed the first six attempts of his career. Nagys was praised by Head Coach Larry Shyatt on his postgame radio show. “Tomas Nagys played very hard and very well against an excellent Maryland frontline. Time and again he battled for rebounds and went to the floor many times. He set a tone that the rest of the team picked up in terms of hustle.”

Nagys followed that game with a solid effort against Duke. He made 3-4 shots from the field and had seven points and two steals in just 16 minutes. He had five points and six rebounds in the win over North Carolina, including his second career three-point goal.

Clemson Three-Point Shooting Improved Clemson is much improved this year when it comes to the perimeter aspect of the game. The Tigers are shooting 35.4 percent on three-point shots and averaging 7.92 three-point made goals per game, above the previous record rate of 7.06 per game set in 1993-94. They are shooting and making more threes and doing it at the third best percentage in school history.

Clemson’s 1986-87 team made 203 of 453 three-point attempts, a .448 figure, by far the Clemson record and still the ACC mark for that category. Clemson’s 1991-92 team made 38.2 percent and the current 36.5 figure is third.

Leading the way in terms of three-point shooting is Will Solomon, who has made 83 three-point goals in 27 games, 3.07 per game.

Clemson needs just 19 three-point goals to break the school record for a season. The 1999-93 team, which played 34 games, had 240 for the season.

Clemson Has Played 12 Games vs. Top 25 Teams Clemson has played 12 top 20 opponents so far this year and Clemson is 1-11 in those games. Ironically, the only win is against a number-one North Carolina team. The Tigers have played well in seven of those 12 games, having a chance to win with less than five minutes left in six of the 11 losses. Clemson lost to 10th ranked Seton Hall 79-78 on November 21 in the second game of the season, then lost to 20th ranked Cincinnati by 88-80 on December 21 in San Juan. Maryland, ranked 17th at the time, downed the Tigers, 104-92 on January 2.

Playing against top-flight competition will be the norm this year. The ACC is filled with top 20 teams and it appears Clemson will play at least 10 conference games against ranked teams. Combined with the two non-conference games against top 20 teams, Clemson has played 12 regular season games this year against top 20 teams, a record for the regular season.

Clemson had played 10 top 20 teams in a regular season four previous years. The first time first took place in 1979-80 when Clemson had a 6-4 record against top 20 teams on the way to a NCAA Final Eight finish. Clemson also played 10 top 20 teams in 1980-81, 1994-95 and 1996-97.

The record for most top 25 teams played in a season is 13, set in 1996-97, but three of those were played in the postseason. Clemson had a 5-8 record against ranked teams that year, a season Clemson advanced to the NCAA’s Sweet 16. That was Larry Shyatt’s last season as associate head coach at Clemson.

Clemson been known to upset ranked teams in the past. Clemson has 69 win over ranked teams (AP or USA Today/Coach’s), including at least one every year since 1986-87. That includes this year.

Stockman Wins Paw Competition Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt has created an individual competition within his team that is geared toward improving the team’s overall performance. He has devised a system for earning “Tiger Paws” throughout the year. He has divided the season into three parts, pre-ACC, ACC regular season, and postseason.

Players can earn Tiger Paws by individual hustle plays, deflections, taking charges, reaching a minimum amount of rebounds, field goal shooting, three-point and free throw percentage minimums or making a game-winning play. Each member of the team receives a paw when certain team goals are reached within a game.

For the pre-ACC part of the schedule, the champion was Adam Allenspach had 17. Everyone started fresh with the ACC regular season schedule.

Individual Goals in earning a Paw 1. Hustle Plays–must accumulate a total of 10 of the following in a game: first to the floor, charges taken, ball pressure deflection, steal or blocked shot. 2. Rebounding–Must have 8 rebounds for a forward or center, 4 rebounds for a wing or guard. 3. Assist/turnover ratio–Must have a 2/1 ratio for a forward or center, 3/1 for a guard or wing. 4. Shooting Percentages–Must shoot 50 percent field the field (min 4 attempts), 40 percent on three-point shots (min 3 attempts), 80 percent from the foul line (min of 3 attempts). 5. Cluch performance–Making a game winning play on offense or defense.

Stockman Sets Record for 3-Point Goals Freshman guard Tony Stockman scored a season best 23 points in his first collegiate start on Dec. 16 against Wofford. The effort, which also included three rebounds, three assists and three steals, earned Stockman ACC Rookie of the Week honors on Dec. 18. Stockman connected on 9 of 17 shots from the field, including a 4 of 7 mark from long range. Stockman and Chris Hobbs are the only Tiger freshmen to score at least 23 points in a game in the last four years.

Stockman had another 20-point game in his first ACC start. He tallied 20 points, including 10-12 from the foul line in the 111-108 loss to Georgia Tech. He scored 18 points in the second half. He added 13 points and five assists without a turnover against Virginia. He added 16 points in his second ACC start, the 75-65 win over North Carolina.

Stockman has shown an ability to score in the clutch. Against Charleston Southern, he scored 14 of the Tigers final 23 points, including six points in the final five minutes of play. His three-point goal with 44 seconds left iced the win over #1 North Carolina and was listed as the Jefferson Pilot ACC Play of the Week. Stockman ranks second on the Clemson team in points scored in the last five minutes of games decided by 10 points or less.

For the year, Stockman is second on the team in scoring with a 12.1 average, even though he has played just 27 minutes per game. His 65 three-point goals have established a Clemson freshman record, and his 83 percent free throw shooting mark is first on the team.

Stockman is having the best season by a Clemson freshman guard since Terrell McIntyre in 1995-96. In some ways, Stockman’s stats are even better. And, he has averaged six less minutes per game than McIntrye played as a freshman.

Free Throw Shooting at a 14-year High One area of improvement for Clemson this year is free throw shooting. The Tigers have made 70.4 percent from the foul line this year. Clemson has not been a good free throw shooting team over the years. In fact, no Clemson team has bettered 70 percent over a season since 1986-87 when Horace Grant was a senior, helping the Tigers to a 71.6 percentage. The closest Clemson has come to a 70 percent season from the line was 1994-95 when the Tigers finished at .696. Clemson has made at least two thirds of its free throws just four of the last 13 seasons.

If the season ended today, Clemson’s .704 figure would be the best since the 1986-87 season and the ninth best in history. The Clemson record for free throw shooting took place in 1981-82 when Bill Foster’s Tigers made .734 of their free throws.

Clemson has had balance from the line this year. Adam Allenspach, a 74 percent shooter from the line last year, is a 66.7 so far this year.

No Clemson team in history has ever led the ACC in free throw shooting.

Clemson Offensive Numbers Up The Tigers are trying to run a more up-tempo offense this season, and are averaging 75 points per game this year, up from the 64.4 scoring average of last year. The 108 points Clemson scored against Georgia Tech were the most points scored by a Clemson team since December 1, 1993 when the Tigers scored 120 in the 120-103 win over Charleston Southern. The 108 points scored in the loss to Tech were the most points in history in a Clemson loss.

Clemson has scored at least 80 points in 10 games this year, including three in a row at one point. Clemson reached the 80-point mark just twice all of last year and just eight times in 35 games Shyatt’s first season at Clemson.