Tigers Win ACC Scoring Defense Title

March 28, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson men’s basketball team had a number of top 10 individual finishes and top three team finishes according to final league statistics released by the Atlantic Coast Conference in Monday. Clemson finished the season with a 22-12 record, including a 9-7 mark in the ACC, tied for fourth in the league standings and a number-four seed in the ACC Tournament.

The Tigers advanced to the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year, a record streak in school history. Brad Brownell’s team defeated UAB by a 70-52 score in the first round, Clemson’s largest victory margin in school history in an NCAA Tournament game before they were eliminated by West Virginia in the second round.

Individually, Andre Young led the ACC in assist/turnover ratio with a 2.55 to 1 ratio. The junior guard had 102 assists and just 40 turnovers for the season, finishing ahead of North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall, who had a 2.50 to 1 ratio for the season. Young’s ratio was fifth best in school history and currently ranks 22nd best in the nation. Young now has two of the top five assist/turnover ratio seasons in Clemson history, as he had a 2.86 to 1 figure his freshman year.

Young, who will be one of the senior leaders for the Tigers next year, also finished fourth in the ACC in made three-point goals per game (2.4), seventh in three-point goal percentage (.396), and ninth in steals (1.4 per game).

Clemson senior Jerai Grant finished his season with 78 blocked shots in 34 games, an average of 2.3 per game, fourth best in the ACC and currently 30th best in the nation. Grant also finished eighth in the ACC in offensive rebounds per game (2.6), and was 12th in overall rebounding (6.7).

Senior Demontez Stitt finished 11th in the ACC and best on the Clemson team in scoring with 14.5 points per game, was third in minutes per game (34.2), and 10th in steals (1.4 per game). Stitt had even higher finishes in stats for ACC games as he was eighth in the conference in scoring (15.3), sixth in assists (3.8), and eighth in free throw shooting (.773).

As a team, Clemson led the ACC in scoring defense, allowing 61.4 points per game, currently 24th best in the nation. It is the first time Clemson has led the ACC in scoring defense since the 1998-99 season. Clemson was also second in the ACC in field goal percentage defense, allowing just a .402 figure, the best by a Clemson team since the 1958-59 season. The Tigers were also fourth in the ACC in blocked shots per game (4.7), third in steals (8.0) and fourth in turnover margin (+2.0 per game).

In terms of conference regular season games only, Clemson led the ACC in free throw shooting with a .747 figure, the best by a Clemson team for ACC games since 1973-74. The Tigers were also fourth in scoring margin in league games (+3.9), second in three-point percentage defense (.321), third in blocked shots (.49) and third in steals (7.5).