Down one with under 50 seconds left in regulation, Clemson relied on the steady shooting of PJ Hall to move to 2-0.
Chase Hunter pushed ahead to the basket only to see Hall retain the ball with another chance for the lead.
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Three Blazer defenders swarmed over as Hall fought for a loose ball to create chaos.
Hall fought through the contact for a layup. With how the Clemson offense struggled from deep all night, a tough basket inside seemed fitting. The Tigers outscored the Blazers 34-22 in the paint.
After two Hunter layups and a UAB airball, the Tigers (2-0) escaped UAB (0-2) with a 77-76 victory late Friday night in Asheville at Harrah's Cherokee Center.
Much like Hall's layup coming with a battle, the Tigers had to fight for baskets that seemed tough to come by on numerous possessions.
Down 67-58, the Tigers watched as UAB's Alejan Vasquez's fastbreak layup gave UAB a comfortable lead with seven minutes to go.
Up to that point, Clemson was cold from deep, shooting just 3-16, unable to match the Blazers' shooting from long range.
The Tigers, down 42-39 at intermission, shot 49.1% from the field, which might indicate a strong night statistically.
From Vasquez's layup, however, consistent Tiger misses from long range eventually turned into conversions.
Down 67-61, Clemson fired from deep on three straight possessions, flipping a 6-point deficit into a three-point lead.
The Tigers held a UAB offense that shot over 45% all night to just nine points in the final three minutes.
UAB shot 28-60 overall, converting 9-22 from beyond the arc.
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The Blazers also outrebounded the Tigers 39-26 with 17 second-chance points.
Syracuse Transfer Joe Girard continued his shooting woes from the Winthrop opener, hitting just 1-4 on the night.
Friday night's box score indicated the Blazers had everything going for them, but Hall and Hunter's clutch plays late proved to be the difference.
Hunter (16 points) joined Hall as the only two Tigers to reach double figures in scoring.
Clemson was just 17-of-27 (63%) from the free throw line.
The Blazers had three scorers reach double figures, led by Eric Gaines' 18 points.
Clemson will now face Davidson in the Asheville Championship on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
Notes: Clemson won its second game all-time against UAB and moved to 2-2 against the Blazers … PJ Hall totaled his 13th-straight double-digit scoring game dating back to the 2022-23 season … Hall now has 1,090 points and is 37th on the all-time scoring list at Clemson … with 27 points Hall also recorded his 17th career 20-point game and now has 20+ points in back-to-back games to start the season … Hall set a new career mark with 35 minutes played … the Tigers clinched their first victory after trailing at the half … Clemson won seven such games last season.
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