Clemson is going to experience a different challenge this postseason in being the hunted.
But the Tigers still have a Hunter.
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Chase Hunter was the difference in the second half Thursday night against SMU, rising to the moment as he's done so often over the past year to lift the Tigers to a 57-54 victory.
Clemson advances to a semifinal matchup with No. 13 Louisville, the team that handed the Tigers a 74-64 defeat on Jan. 7.
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Brad Brownell's team has lost only once since that night in Louisville.
This brilliant season for 10th-ranked Clemson (27-5) has been marked by the emergence of others, namely Viktor Lakhin and Jaeden Zackery.
Entering the year it was thought that the two stars remaining after the departure of PJ Hall and Joe Girard would have to carry this team.
That would be Hunter and Ian Schieffelin.
This team showed for much of the year that it can win a lot of games even when the two studs aren't leading the charge.
But it's tournament time. And with Lakhin in foul trouble as the Mustangs turned a one-point halftime deficit into a five-point lead, Hunter sensed that he had to rise to the occasion.
He did precisely that in the second half, picking his spots and raising his level of play to score 15 of his game-high 21 points after intermission while finishing with three big blocks in 37 minutes.
Hunter wasn't perfect, as he committed four turnovers including one late. He also missed the back end of a 1-and-1 opportunity in the final seconds that allowed SMU a chance to send it into overtime.
But overall he was what his team needed to advance. And that's a lot more than he was a year ago in a one-and-done stinker against Boston College in the ACC Tournament, where he shot 0-for-10 from the field in a 76-55 defeat.
When he attacked the lane and drilled a soaring turnaround jumper over BJ Edwards to put Clemson up 56-52 with 1:45 left, Hunter put his stamp on the game.
Schieffelin was also a grown man once again in the second half, banging hard with Matt Cross and pulling down 12 rebounds in 35 minutes.
Clemson had to deal with not just Lakhin's foul trouble but the absence of Hunter's brother Dillon, who sat the second half with his right arm wrapped in a soft cast after he suffered an injury to his shooting hand.
Brownell revealed afterward that Hunter suffered a broken hand. It's a significant loss, as Dillon has been a key part of the team's depth this season. Jake Heidbreder and Del Jones combined for seven points while playing 23 and 16 minutes, respectively.
Zackery was the Tigers' only other double-figure scorer with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. He and Chase Hunter combined for eight of the Tigers' 16 turnovers (to just eight assists).
Clemson and SMU combined to miss 30 3-pointers on 35 attempts. The Mustangs went 1-of-14, but the Tigers made three more.
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SMU outscored Clemson 40-24 in the paint, but the Mustangs scored just four second-chance points off of nine offensive rebounds. The Tigers had the same number of offensive boards and turned those into 11 second-chance points.
If this team is going to survive and advance as far as it wants to, it's going to need a cluster of players to play really well.
That wasn't the recipe Thursday night.
But Chase Hunter still knows the recipe during big situations when his team really needs him.
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He seems made for those moments.
And more of those moments are coming.
