Clemson’s latest victory had a presidential stamp of approval.
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With former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush in attendance, No. 18 Clemson delivered a commanding 79-69 road win over SMU on Saturday at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.
The Tigers (22-5, 14-2 ACC) continued their record-setting conference season, earning their seventh ACC road win and tying a program best with 14 ACC victories overall. The 14-2 mark maintains Clemson's No. 2 spot in league standings along with Louisville, though the Cardinals own the tiebreaker.
Jaeden Zackery set the tone early, drilling his first five 3-point attempts and finishing with a game-high 19 points.
Clemson buried 14 total threes, maintaining control over SMU (20-7, 11-5 ACC) with a scorching perimeter attack.
While Zackery provided the spark, Viktor Lakhin brought the second-half firepower. Limited by foul trouble in the first half, the Cincinnati transfer scored 13 of his 16 points after the break, helping the Tigers stretch a 36-32 halftime lead.
Chase Hunter added 17 points, including three triples, while Ian Schieffelin chipped in 10.
Clemson’s offense was nearly flawless, recording 24 assists on 28 made field goals while committing just nine turnovers. Defensively, the Tigers forced 16 SMU giveaways and held the Mustangs to just 32-percent from beyond the arc.
Hunter’s corner three extended the lead to 18 with just under 10 minutes left, but SMU made a late push with a 6-0 run before Clemson put the game away at the free-throw line.
Despite the win, rebounding was a glaring issue. SMU dominated the glass, outrebounding Clemson 39-24 and grabbing 18 offensive boards, leading to 15 second-chance points.
The Tigers shot 49.1% from the field, 48.3% from three, and 81.8% from the line. SMU hit 43.9% overall, 32% from deep, and 78.6% from the stripe.
Brad Brownell is now 1-1 against SMU, having lost the previous matchup in 2013-14.
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With another Quad 1 road win in hand, Clemson continues strengthening its NCAA Tournament resume.
The Tigers return home Wednesday to face Notre Dame at 7 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum, looking to build on their historic ACC run. The game will air on the ACC Network.
Looking ahead, all four of Clemson's remaining opponents in the regular season have a losing record overall and in the conference. Should Brownell win out, a 26-5 mark would represent the most wins in a single season in Clemson history.
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