Tigers Take A Break From Conference Play

Jan. 17, 2000

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson is a perfect 7-0 against Appalachian State over the years. All of the game’s have been played at Littlejohn Coliseum except once, a 91-73 Clemson victory in the 1992-93 season in a game played in the Charlotte Coliseum. Clemson’s average margin of victory in the series is 19.85 points per game. The closest Appalachian State has come to defeating Clemson is a 93-88 Tiger victory during the 1977-78 season. The two teams played a 66-56 game at Clemson in 1993-94, Cliff Ellis’s final year as head coach of the Tigers.

Clemson won the last meeting 91-55 in 1995-96. A young freshman named Andrius Jurkunas came off the bench to score nine points and grab six in 19 minutes to help the Tigers to the victory. Merl Code led Clemson in scoring with 19 points, while Terrell McIntyre had 16 points and seven assists off the bench. Harold Jamison added 10 points on 4-5 shooting. Clemson shot 59 percent from the field for thegame, including 9-16 on three-point shots.

Kareem Livingston led Appalachian State with 12 points. Clemson forced 22 turnovers in the game, while dealing out 22 assists on offense. Clemson held a 54-26 lead at halftime of the game played on November 29, 1995. It was the second game of an NCAA Tournament season for the Tigers.

Clemson vs. Southern Conference Appalachian State is a member of the Southern Conference and this will be Clemson’s fourth game this year against the league. The Tigers are 2-1 so far this year against the Southern Conference, a 30-point win over East Tennessee State, a five-point loss to Wofford and a four-point win over Furman.

Clemson had won 42 straight at home against Southern Conference teams prior to the loss to Wofford earlier this year. The Tigers had won 13 in a row against the league regardless of site prior to the Wofford game. Overall, Clemson is now 238-107 against teams from the Southern Conference, including 59-3 in Littlejohn Coliseum.

Solomon Has Record Setting Performance Clemson guard Will Solomon put on a scoring show against Virginia on Saturday, January 15. The sophomore from East Hartford, CT scored 43 points in Clemson’s 98-91 loss, the most points by a Tiger in almost 30 years. Solomon connected on 14-21 shots from the floor, including 8-12 on three-point shots. He also made 7-10 free throws and found time to collect nine rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal. He did that in 37 minutes.

Here are some notes on Solomon’s game:

Scored 43 points, most points by a Clemson player sinceValentine’s Day, 1970 when Butch Zatezalo tallied 43 against NCState in a game played in the Charlotte Coliseum. Most points everby a Clemson player in Littlejohn Coliseum, breaking the previoushigh of 38 by Skip Wise against Pennsylvania in 1974-75 and byButch Zatezalo against Wake Forsest in 1968-69. Tied for mostpoints by any player in a men’s game in the 32-year history ofLittlejohn Coliseum. Hawkeye Whitney scored 43 against Clemson in aJanuary 30, 1980 game, a contest the Tigers won. (Barbara Kennedyof Clemson holds the overall Coliseum record with 45 againstClaflin in 1981-82.). His 43 points were most ever by a Clemsonplayer against Virginia. Became first player in two years to havemore points scored than minutes played. His 1.16 points per minutewas seventh best in Clemson history and best by a Tiger sinceRayfield Ragland scored 26 points in 22 minutes at CharlestonSouthern in 1993-94. It was the third best points per minute figurein an ACC game in Clemson history, best since Anthony Jenkinsscored 30 in 25 minutes aginast Duke in 1982-83. Tied the Clemsonrecord for three-point goals in a game with eight. He tied thetotal that had been recorded in a game by previous Tigers DavidYoung, Chris Whitney and Terrell McIntyre. The 43 points tied forthe fourth most points in any game at any site in Clemson history.J.O. Erwin has the record with 58 against the Butler Guards in1912, the second game on the first day in the history of the sportat Clemson. Bill Yarborough had a 46-point game against SouthCarolina in 1955 and Zatezalo scored 46 against Wake Forest in1969. At the time of the performance, Solomon’s scoring binge wasthe top scoring game in the ACC this year and the fourth bestscoring game in the nation in 1999-2000. Eddie House of ArizonaState had 61 against California on January 8 for the top scoringgame. House had 46 against San Diego State on December 18. NateGreen of Indiana State had a 45-point game against Eastern Illinoison December 19 and Courtney Alexander (who ironically used to playfor Virginia), had 43 for Fresno State against UAB on December 11.Scored 29 points in the second half, 26 in the last 12:35 of thegame and 12 of Clemson’s final 14 points over the last 1:31 of thegame.

“We couldn’t stop Will Solomon. We recruited him, so we know how he plays. He is a great player. We should not have allowed him to score that many points, but he did.” Virginia Head Coach Pete Gillen.

“Will’s performance was one of the best individual performances I have ever seen. And, he did it against a Virginia team that has outstanding defenders in the backcourt.” Clemson Head Coach Larry Shyatt.

Virginia 98, Clemson 91 Virginia overcame the incredible scoring of Clemson guard Will Solomon in registering a 98-91 win over the Tigers in Littlejohn Coliseum on January 15. Solomon scored 43 points, including 29 in the second half, but he could not overcome the balance of Pete Gillen’s Cavaliers.

Solomon connected on 14-21 shots from the field, including 8-12 three-point goals. The three-point goal total tied a Clemson single game record. Solomon also contributed nine rebounds in the contest.

Aiding Solomon in the scoring column were Adam Allenspach and Pasha Bains, who both shot 5-11 from the field and both scored 16 points. Chucky Gilmore scored just four, but he had a career high 12 rebounds and led the team in assists with four and in blocks with three. He did not turn the ball over in 31 minutes.

Turnovers were a problem for Clemson, however. The Tigers had 25, while Virginia had just eight and that counteracted Clemson’s +18 rebound margin. Virginia scored nine more points off turnovers than Clemson for the game and that was more than the margin of victory.

Virignia had four players in double figures, while three more players had at least seven. Chris Williams and Donald Hand had 18 points apiece. Hand had five assists and no turnovers. Solomon held him to 4-13 shooting. Virginia shot 26-32 from the foul line, including 17-21 down the stretch. Freshmen Roger Mason and Majestic Mapp were a combined 10-11 from the line inside the last four minutes of the game.

Virginia jumped out to a 50-32 lead at intermission, the most points scored in a half against the Tigers all year. It was a 22-point lead for the Cavs at 64-42 early in the second half when Clemson got going. Bains and Solomon combined for 20 of Clemson’s first 22 points of the second half. Clemson cut the margin to 66-56 with 5:18 left on a three-point goal by Solomon.

The margin dropped to 74-69 with 3:20 left on a three-pointer by Andrius Jurkunas. The Tigers cut it to 89-85 with 50 seconds left, but Virginia refused to yield at the foul line. Solomon kept Clemson close with 12 points in the last 1:31, but the Tigers could not get closer than four.

The 98 points were the most points scored against a Larry Shyatt coached team, in fact the most points scored against Clemson in six years. Despite the scoring, Virginia connected on just 41.7 percent of its shots, the 16th straight opponent who failed to reach 45 percent shooting against the Tigers.

16 Straight Opponents 45 % or Less Clemson has been first in the ACC in field goal percentage defense most of the year. Opponents are currently shooting 38.1 percent from the field against Clemson, near a record pace for field goal percentage defense. This has not been a stat built up against non-ACC opponents. The four league opponents have connected on jsut 39.5 percent from the field. Opponents are shooting 33.2 percent on three-point shots, just 33.3 percent in league play.

Clemson has held the opposition to 45 percent field goal shooting or worse for 16 straight games. Penn State shot 27-60 against the Tigers and that is the best opponent field goal percentage (.450) all year. Eight of the 16 opponents have failed to reach 40 percent shooting against Clemson this year. The Tigers held Florida State to 31.6 percent, yet lost the game. Oregon State shot 37 percent against Clemson, yet still defeated the Tigers. Three opponents have shot 40 percent from three-point range (Wofford, Penn State and Wake Forest). The opposition has won all three games.

Clemson shot 55 percent from three-point range against Virginia yet lost the game.

Tigers Face Former Recruit Appalachian State Coach Buzz Peterson is familiar with the Clemson basketball program. He played for North Carolina between 1981-85 and was a member of the 1982 National Championship team. He was a classmate and roommate of Michael Jordan. Peterson was recruited heavily by Clemson coach Bill Foster and current senior associate athletic director Dwight Rainey (Foster’s assistant at the time) out of high school in Asheville, NC.

Peterson is now in his fourth year at Appalachian State and had posted a record of 66-35 heading into Monday night’s game against VMI. His team was 4-0 in the Southern Conference, first in the Northern Division entering that contest. They had won five in a row heading into the VMI game, averaging an impressive 80.5 points per game. Rufus Leach is their leading scorer with a 17.1 average even though he has not started a game this year.

Clemson Injury Update Clemson continues to have players miss games due to injury. Edward Scott and Dustin Braddick, two Clemson backcourt players who have started 18 games between them, did not play against Virginia last Saturday. They could be available for Wednesday night’s game with Appalachian State.

Scott suffered a cartilage injury in his chest while diving for a loose ball at Florida State on January 12. It is the second time this year he has missed time dueto injury. He missed the first three games of the yearwith a broken foot.

Dustin Braddick, who has missed the last six games after undergoing two right foot surgeries, was back at practice for an hour on January 14th, but did not play against Virginia. He could see some action on Wednesday against Appalachian State. When he was healthy earlier in the year, he ranked in the top 10 in the ACC in rebounding and assists before the injury sent him to the sidelines.

Clemson has not had its full roster of scholarship players available for one practice all year. In addition to the above injury problems, Chuck Gilmore has missed three games with a concussion, Andrius Jurkunas missed four games with a broken thumb.

Altogether, five players have missed 19 total games this year due to injury.

Clemson Successful in Classroom Clemson had a record setting first semester in the classroom for the period completed this past December. Five of the 13 Clemson players on the roster earned a 3.0 or better, the highest number of academic honor roll selections for a semester in Clemson history. The team had a 2.39 GPA, its best in the fall since 1995 and the fourth best overall.

Starting center Larry Shyatt, both made the dean’s list. Walk-on J.D. Powell also made the honor roll.

It was an outstanding semester overall for Clemson athletic teams. A record 229 student athletes made the academic honor roll and the overall GPA for all 15 programs was 2.74, highest on record and just .04 from the average for the overall student body.

Seven Tigers in the NBA For the first time in history, Clemson has seven former players in the NBA in the same season. The list includes four former Clemson centers, a point guard, a two guard and a small forward. The previous high for former Tigers in the NBA was six.

Leading the way has been Dale Davis, who is in his ninth year with the Indiana Pacers, his seventh year as a starter. Through 36 games, Davis was averaging 11.9 points and 10 rebounds per game. He was fifth in the NBA in field goal percentage through games of January 16 with a .520 figure. He was also eighth in the league in rebounding and 17th in double-doubles with 13. What is most impressive is his much improved free throw percentage (.694).

Elden Campbell is the highest scorer among former Clemson players in the NBA. Campbell was averaging 12.1 points a game in 31 minutes a game for the Charlotte Hornets. He was also pulling in 7.2 rebounds a game and was 17th in the league in blocked shots.

The veteran of Clemson’s group in the NBA is Horace Grant. A rookie with the Chicago Bulls in 1987-88, he played on three World Championship teams with that franchise. After a four-year stint with the Orlando Magic, he is now with the Seattle Supersonics. He has started all 34 games this year and averaged 36 minutes per game. He is averaging 9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

Chris Whitney is in his sixth year with the Washington Wizzards as a backup point guard. He had 17 points in his third game of the season and also had a double-double this year against Seattle. Whitney is a carerer 80 percent free throw shooter.

Devin Gray replaced Charles Barkley on the Houston Rockets when the future Hall of Famer was injured in December. He has played in four games for the team. Greg Buckner joined the Dallas Mavericks after the first of the year and has played 18 minutes a game over the last four outings. Harold Jamison has played in one game for the Miami Heat. The 1998-99 Clemson senior is currently on injured reserve.

Clemson Players in the NBA (Through Games of Jan. 15, 2000)

Clemson Shooting Must Improve One area Clemson must improve on if it is to gain victory is shooting the basketball. Clemson has shot just 36.8 percent in the four ACC games so far this year. The Tigers are just 29 percent on three-point shots. Opponents also have a large advantage at the foul line. Opponents have taken 113 shots from the line the four ACC games, while Clemson has taken 61. Opponents have made 14 more free throws than Clemson has attempted, and the Tigers have made six percent more of their attempts.

Clemson did make great strides in these areas against Virginia. The Tigers shot 49 percent from the field, including 55 percent (11-20) on three-point shots. Clemson was also 75 percent from the foul line.

Allenspach Strong Defender in Middle Clemson 7-1 center Adam Allenspach has proven to be a large obstacle for opposing centers so far this season. A look to the stats shows us that opposing starting centers have averaged just 5.4 points and 5.6 rebounds a game against the Tigers this year. They are just a combined 25-69 from the field against the Tigers, .362 and have just 29 total offensive rebounds in 16 games.

Allenspach has averaged 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game for the first 16 games, all as a starter, so he is obviously winning the war at his position. Allenspach has 10 double figure scoring games and four double-doubles. No opposing starting center has a double-double against the Tigers, in fact, only North Carolina’s Brendan Haywood and Virginia’s Travis Watson have reached double figures in scoring against the Tigers among opposing starting centers. Rafael Vidaurreta of Wake Forest is the only opponent to have at least 10 rebounds in a game against the Tigers.

Opposing Centers vs. Clemson

Clemson First in Some Areas, Last in Others It is feast or famine for Clemson when it comes to the ACC stats. The Tigers lead the league in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 38.1 percent. Clemson also leads the conference in rebound margin, collecting +8.2 rebounds per game. Those are two areas that result from the strong effort the team has given so far this season. Only two teams have out-rebounded Clemson all season.

But, the Tigers are last in the ACC in seven different statistical categories. Clemson is last in scoring, scoring margin, field goal percentage, three-point goal percentage and turnover margin. Obviously, Clemson must must improved offensively.

Clemson has a 6-10 record so far this year, but has 12 more made field goals and has a better shooting percentage from the field than the opposition. Clemson is a much improved 66 percent from the foul line.

The areas Clemson must improve is made three-point goals, where the opposition has made 31 more than Clemson. Seven straight opponents have made more three-point goals than Clemson. That is an 93-point advantage for the opposition in that area. The opposition also has committed 91 less turnovers and has 60 more steals. Clemson is last in the ACC in turnover margin.

Conrad Appointed by Reno Bobby Conrad, the starting point guard on Bill Foster’s 1979-80 team that advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, has been appointed Director of the Campaign Finance Task Force by Attorney General Janet Reno. The announcement was made December 27th in Washington DC.

Conrad, now a resident of Charlotte, NC, has been an Assistant United States Attorney for Western North Carolina. He will take an 18-month sabatical from that job to serve his appointment under Reno. His primary activity will be to look into allegations of illegal campaign contributions during the 1996 election cycle.

Conrad graduated from Clemson in 1980. He was a member of the Tiger basketball team for four years, a starter his last two seasons. In 1979-80 he led the Tigers in assists with 157 and averaged 7.8 poins per game. He shot 81 percent from the foul line, including an 8-8 performance in Clemson’s 87-82 overtime victory against #1 ranked Duke.

For his career, Conrad scored 542 points and dealt out 402 assists in 116 games. He also had 172 rebounds and shot 71.6 percent from the foul line. A three-time Academic All-ACC performer, Conrad was the recipient of Clemson’s 1980 Norris Medal, which is given to the top all-around student on the Clemson campus. From Clemson, he went on to earn his law degree at the University of Virginia.

Clemson on Record Pace in Rebound Margin If the season ended today, this would be the highest rebound margin by a Clemson team in school history. The Tigers are +8.2 in overall games so far this year. Clemson has been out-rebounded just twice all year, a sign of the hustle and drive of Larry Shyatt team. Wisconsin-GB is the only non-conference team this year to hold a rebounding edge against the Tigers and that was by a 35-31 margin. North Carolina won the rebound battle 43-34 in the ACC opener.

Clemson has won the battle of theboards in 14 of its 16 games this year and has had a double figure advantage in nine of the 16 games. Clemson was +18 on the boards against Virginia on Jan. 15. Clemson had a positive rebound margin in its last seven games last year, so the Tigers have outrebounded the opposition in 21 of their last 23 games. Larry Shyatt has been Clemson’s head coach for 51 games and the Tigers have been beaten on the glass just eight times.

The Clemson record for rebound margin in a season is +7.4 rebounds per game set by last year’s team. That team broke the record of +5.8 set by the 1975-76 Clemson team that was led by Tree Rollins. Three other Clemson teams have been at +4.9 rebounds per game for a season. The Clemson team of 1989-90 led by Dale Davis and Elden Campbell had a +4.5 rebound margin per game.

Clemson’s Top Rebound Margin Teams

Solomon Three-point Goal Streak at 20 Clemson guard Will Solomon has made at least one three-point goal in each game this year and has a streak of 20 straight with at least one three-point goal over two years. This is the third longest streak of its kind in Clemson history. His streak started with the last four games of 1998-99, all NIT games, and has continued through the first 16 games this year.

Terrell McIntyre holds the recordwith 26 games in a row set over the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Chris Whitney, now with the Washington Wizzards, had a 25-game streak, the last 25 games of his career.

In fact, Whitney and McIntyre have the top four streaks in Clemson history. So, Solomon is just the third different Tiger in history to have a streak of at least 20 in a row. Solomon has 78 three-point goals for his career, 26 last year and 52 this season. Solomon tied the Clemson single game record for three-point goals with eight against Virginia. He had at least three three-point goals in each of the seven games in the month of December has had multiple three-point goals in 14 of the first 16 games this season.

Clemson Consecutive Game Streak with a Three-Point Goal

Solomon Leads ACC in Scoring, Minutes, 3-Pt Goals Will Solomon leads the ACC in three categories. His 22.3 scoring average is best in the league and 12th in the nation (through games of Jan. 10) , while his 3.25 three-point goals per game also is first in the league. Solomon also leads the ACC in playing time, averaging 35.8 minutes per game.

Solomon is attempting to become just the fourth Tiger in history to lead the ACC in scoring. Butch Zatezalo paced the league twice, with a 23.0 average in 1967-68 and with a 25.8 average in 1968-69. He did not lead the league as a senior. Horace Grant led the league as a senior in 1986-87 with a 21.0 scoring mark, while Terrell McIntyre led the conference last year with a 17.9 figure.

Solomon’s 22.3 scoring average is the highest by a Clemson player since Zatezalo’s figure in 1968-69. The Clemson record for a season is a 28.3 figure by Bill Yarborough in 1954-55. Yarborough did not lead the league that year because of Virginia’s Buzz Willinson’s 32.1 average, a figure that is still the ACC record.

Allenspach Second in Scoring and Rebounding Adam Allenspach leads the Tigers in rebounding , double-doubles and is second in free throw shooting so far this year. The 7-1 junior has averaged 11.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. His rebound figure is seventh best in the league. He has shot 49 percent from the field, but does not average the needed 5 made field goals per game.

Allenspach has four double-doubles this year, with the most recent coming against Florida State when he had 11 of each. His 11 rebounds were a career high. He had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the Clemson victory over Winthrop. He had a 19-point, seven rebound performance in a win over Furman. That id a career high in scoring for Allenspach.

Allenspach has scored in double figures in seven of his last nine games and has averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game during this time. He has made over 50 percent of his field goals in six of the last nine games games and in 10 of the 16 games this year.

Nagys Getting to the Foul Line One of the freshmen who has made an impact this year is Tomas Nagys. The native of Lithuania had six points in 10 minutes against Furman, including 4-6 from the foul line and three rebounds. He also had an assist and drew a charge. He leads the Tigers in charges taken this year with nine. He has a knack for getting to the foul line, as his six free throws in 10 minutes against Furman will show. He continued that against Virginia with 5-5 free throw shooting in eight minutes of play.

Nagys has attempted at least one free throw in 12 of his 15 games this year, including a high of 7-8 shooting in just 10 minutes in the season opener. For the season, Nagys has attempted 45 free throws in just 138 minutes, or one every 3.2 minutes of play. That is by far the best on the team.

Jurkunas Veteran of Over 100 Games A 29 percent field goal percentage, including 26 percent from three-point land is not exactly what Andrius Jurkunas had in mind for his final season at Clemson. But, Larry Shyatt would be the first to tell you he is more than pleased with his leadership and all-around play.

Jurkunas suffered a broken thumb on his shooting (right) hand while attempting to draw a charge against Central Florida in the season’s third game. He missed the rest of that game and the next four games. Clemson was 1-3 in those games.

He wore a soft cast for six games due to the injury. The injury obviously affects his shooting. It has forced Jurkunas to contribute on other ways…and he has. In the win over South Carolina he had played almost the entire second half and scored just two points, but had seven rebounds and four assists. He contributed six assists and eight points in the win over Winthrop, then had a career high seven assists and a career high 11 rebounds in a loss to George Washington. In the win over Furman he had four points, five rebounds and a blocked shot in 19 minutes.

Jurkunas had his best game against an ACC team when he had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists against just two turnovers at Florida State. It was his first double figure scoring game since the season opener. He also hit a pair of three-point goals in that game.

Jurkunas is Clemson’s most experienced player. He has played in 101 games, 64 as a starter and has played over 2200 career minutes, nearly 1000 more than any other Tiger. He has 119 career three-point goals, more than any other forward in Clemson history, and has 648 points, also high among active Tigers. His 382 rebounds are also best among active Tigers.

Tigers Taking Charge One area Clemson has shown improvement in this year from a defensive standpoint is taking charges. The Tigers have already drawn 30 charges in 16 games, after taking 46 charges in 35 contests last year. Clemson has taken a charge in all but one game (Central Florida) this year, with a high of four against East Tennessee State in the opener. Clemson has taken three in five other games.

Leading the way is freshman Will Solomon has four, while Adam Allenspach has taken three. Eight different Tigers have taken a charge this year.

13 of 16 Clemson Games Up For Grabs While Clemson has a 6-10 record so far this year, Clemson has been in all but three contests with five minutes left. Clemson has been out of just threegames with five minutes left, a 53-35 loss to Oregon State in the SoCon Holiday Hoops on November 28, the George Washington game on December 22 and the ACC opener at North Carolina. George Washington hit 15 three-point goals in defeating Clemson 90-71 in Littlejohn Coliseum.

In Clemson’s 17-point loss to Wisconsin-GB, the Tigers were tied with the Phenix at 40-40 with 5:42 left. In a 10-point loss to Penn State, Clemson trailed by just four with two minutes left. Clemson lost by 14 to Wake Forest, but it was a six-point game with 2:30 left. Clemson trailed by just four points, 89-85 against Virginia with 50 seconds left.

Clemson has shown an ability to win close games this year, something that was not the case last season. The Tigers have won four games by six points or less, including each of the last three Clemson victories (over a four-game period). Clemson defeated South Carolina 61-58, then defeated Winthrop 64-59. In Clemson’s most recent game, the Tigers held off Furman 74-70. Clemson is 4-3 in games decided by six points or less this year.