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10th-seeded Clemson continued its momentum Tuesday evening with a win over No. 15-seed N.C. State in the 2022 ACC Basketball Tournament at the Barclays Center in New York. For the first time in history, the Tigers entered the tournament on a four-game winning streak to close the regular season.
The Tigers, led by P.J. Hall's 18 points, downed the Wolfpack 70-64. It was Hall's second consecutive game back after missing several games while nursing a foot injury.
State (11-21, 4-17), which entered the matchup a five-point underdog, watched its season come to an end while the Tigers (17-15, 9-12) will advance to the second round of the tourney to face No. 7 Virginia Tech. Clemson downed the Hokies (19-12, 11-9) 63-59 in Littlejohn Coliseum last Saturday to close the teams' regular season.
Hall scored two of Clemson's first two baskets, giving the Tigers a quick 6-2 lead. State quickly captured its first advantage of the game nearly four minutes in after a Jericole Hellems three-pointer.
Nearly seven minutes in the Tigers were back on top 11-10 on an Al-Amir Dawes basket from long range. State would respond with a jumper from Dereon Seabron. It would be the Pack's last lead of the first half and for that matter the entire game.
Naz Bohannon and Nick Honor would score the game's final baskets of the first half, which gave the Tigers a 29-24 advantage at the break.
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A Hall jumper with just over two and a half minutes into the second half pushed Clemson's lead to 35-26. State would trail just 39-36 with 12:15 to go after a Breon Pass layup.
With 8:50 remaining, a second free throw conversion by Chase Hunter gave Clemson a 51-40 advantage, its largest lead of the game.
Jaylon Gibson's layup with 1:15 left would pull the Pack to within five points, down 65-60, but State would come no closer the rest of the way.
State shot just 34.9-percent from the floor and hit just 4-for-23 (17.4%) from long range, while Clemson hit 41.7% of its baskets. The Tigers were just 6-of-23 (26.1%) from three-point range.
Seabron turned in a game-high in both points (19) and rebounds (12). Hellems was the only other player to reach double figures in scoring for the Pack, adding 13.
Honor (13) and Dawes (12) joined Hall in scoring double figures for the Tigers. Hall's 10 rebounds was a team-high.
Clemson head coach Brad Brownell moved to 6-10 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 11-10 vs. N.C. State. The Tigers have now won four of their last five in their series vs. the Pack.
Clemson and Va. Tech will square off on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The matchup is set to be televised by ESPN2. The Tigers are on a five-game winning streak.
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