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CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson center Elijah Thomas erupted for his sixth double-double of the season in a 64-37 victory over Wake Forest on Sunday, as the Tigers continue to right the ship after a shaky start to ACC play.
“We’ve had high expectations for ourselves; we have to fully commit,” said Thomas. “Once we can do that we’ll get to where we want to be.”
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Clemson struggled with a 1-5 record to start conference play, but dominant wins over Pitt and Wake Forest have the Tigers trending in the right direction.
“We lost a couple of games that maybe we could have won, obviously the N.C. State one was unfortunate because we had a great opportunity,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell. “We’re trying to leave it behind us and keep putting our head down and do what’s next.”
Thomas amassed 23 points, 10 rebounds, and seven blocks en route to his 17th career double-double. Clemson is 13-4 all-time in games that Thomas has a double-double.
“When he’s out there for 28 minutes, our team is infinitely better,” said Brownell.
The Tigers jumped to a 16-3 lead to start the game. David Skara and John Newman III made 3-pointers, while Marcquise Reed converted an and-one and added another layup. Clemson’s defense held Wake Forest to just 18 points in the first half, as the Tigers led 30-18 at the break.
Clemson opened the second half with a 15-2 run, during which Thomas had six points, four blocks, and two rebounds. Shelton Mitchell capped off the run with a 3-pointer to extend Clemson’s lead to 45-20 lead with 13:46 remaining. Another 3-pointer from Newman III gave the Tigers a 54-28 lead with 5:23 left.
Senior guard Lyles Davis had a 3-pointer and a steal in the game’s closing minutes. The former walk-on was placed on scholarship last month, and had two career points before today.
“I almost ran to the other team’s bench, I was so excited for him,” said Thomas. “There’s a lot of things that he does behind closed doors that you don’t get to see.”
The Demon Deacons shot just 23.7 percent from the field and turned the ball over 16 times.
“When you get your shots blocked 10 times, and turn the ball over 16 times, that’s 26 possessions that you don’t get to put points on the board,” said Wake Forest coach Danny Manning.
The Tigers shot 47 percent from the field and were 6-of-18 from 3-point range.
Said Brownell: “I thought we had six or eight wide open 3-pointers that we missed that we’re probably going to need to make two or three more of those to beat the elite teams in our league.”
Wake Forest forward Jaylen Hoard had eight points and seven rebounds.
“I thought Aamir (Simms') ability to guard Hoard today was really good,’ said Brownell. “[Hoard] is a talent, he’s really good.”
Sophomore guard Chaundee Brown led the Demon Deacons with 12 points.
Wake Forest dropped to 1-8 in ACC play with today’s loss. “This is what our league is,” said Manning. “Nobody is going to take it easy on you.”
Wake Forest’s 37 points is the fewest total that Clemson has allowed to an ACC opponent during Brad Brownell’s tenure as head coach.
“Brad Brownell basketball is defense,” said Thomas. “We were just playing hard and that’s something that we’ll have to carry on to Georgia Tech and the rest of the season.”
Clemson will look to carry its momentum to Atlanta on Wednesday night to face the Yellow Jackets.
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