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NICEVILLE, Fla. -- Freshman Patrick McCaffrey scored 21 points and No. 25 Iowa held off Clemson 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Emerald Coast Classic championship game.
Iowa (5-0) will face the TCU-California winner in the title game Saturday. Clemson (4-2) will play the TCU-California loser.
Tony Perkins scored eight of his 11 points during the final two minutes, making a layup and six of six free throws to help squelch the Tigers’ threat.
The Hawkeyes had a 14-point lead with just under eight minutes to play, but Clemson tied it at 62 on a 3-pointer by BrevIn Galloway that capped a 16-2 run.
Chase Hunter hit a 3-pointer for Clemson to cut it to 72-71 with 4.1 second left. Perkins iced it with two free throws with 1.5 seconds to go.
One of two sons of coach Fran McCaffery on the Hawkeye roster, Patrick McCaffery hit seven of 14 shots from the field. Kris Murray was the only other double-figure scorer for Iowa with 10.
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Hunter led Clemson with 21 points and Hunter Tyson had 13. Tyson led all Clemson rebounders with eight. P.J. Hall did not score and was 0-for-2 from the floor in limited action (13 minutes). Tiger true freshman (F) R.J. Godfrey was a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor, adding seven points while freshman guard Josh Beadle scored eight in 21 minutes of work.
Clemson shot 40.6-percent from the floor, 8-of-26 (30.8%) from three-point range and 11-of-13 (84.6%) from the foul line. The Hawkeyes were just 38.3% from the field and 4-of-19 (21.1%) from long range. Iowa converted 24 of 30 (80%) free throw attempts.
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Iowa: The victory, the first this season against a Power 5 team, kept Iowa undefeated and could help secure its tenuous position in the AP Top 25, but the Hawkeyes probably need to win the tournament title to stay there. They were unranked in the preseason poll, but last week grabbed the 25th slot as Michigan, Dayton and TCU, their possible opponent in the Emerald Coast title game, dropped out after suffering a one-point loss to Northwestern State of Louisiana.
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Clemson. The loss was the second in as many games against Power 5 teams this season for Clemson and the first to a ranked team. The Tigers also fell to in-state rival South Carolina 60-58 on Nov. 11.
Following Saturday's game in Niceville, Clemson will return to Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday to begin a three-game home stand, starting with Penn State as part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
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