CLEMSON, SC - What a game! And what a difference four days make. The Tigers were coming off another gut-wrenching overtime loss--triple overtime in fact--to Georgia Tech late Tuesday night. They were badly out-rebounded by the Jackets, in large part because center Viktor Lakhin played just 16 out of 55 minutes due to foul trouble, fouling out in the first overtime. Whatever Brownell said to him in the following days must have pushed the right buttons because he had his best game as a Tiger, scoring a season-high 22 points, just one short of his career high. He somehow missed an open dunk late in the game that would have given the Tigers a 9-point lead and made the entire crowd gasp. Ironically, that prevented a new career-high, but thankfully, it did not cost the Tigers the game. Fittingly, Viktor was honored just before tip at center court for having scored 1,000 career points.
The scene in Littlejohn was one for the ages. Dick Vitale made his triumphant return to courtside commentary after two years battling cancer, and he received a huge ovation from the Clemson crowd (see video below). I remember getting his autograph on my game program as a Clemson undergrad when he was in Littlejohn for College GameDay. The Tigers haven't had a crowd like this in at least 15 years. There have been big, loud crowds at Littlejohn for big games against Duke, UNC and even this season against Kentucky, but I can't remember EVERY seat in the top row of Littlejohn Coliseum occupied in a long, long time. It was like this when Clemson was ranked No.2 in 1996 and I was in the stands as an undergrad watching the Tigers play Tim Duncan and Wake Forest. That might be the last time that Littlejohn was as loud as it was on Saturday night against Duke!
Ian and the Tigers did an incredible job taking freshman phenom Cooper Flagg--the unquestioned No.1 pick in the next NBA Draft--out of the game until the last 5 minutes or so. He had just 2 points until a fast break dunk in the last minute of the first half, and he didn't score in the second half until a pair of free throws with 6 minutes left, and his first field goal of the second half came with 5 minutes left. He almost carried Duke to victory, though, scoring 14 points in the final 6 minutes, including 3 three-pointers, but he lost his footing for a critical traveling call as he was attempting to tie the game with 21 seconds left. With an absence of scoring from Flagg, Proctor kept Duke in the game, scoring a season-high 23 points, just one shy of his career high.
Chase Hunter scored just 14 points, but he was clutch at the end! He scored 6 of the Tigers' last 7 points, including a driving layup right in front of me with the game tied and 38 seconds left. He proceeded to make all four of his free throws after that and blocked a layup attempt by Proctor that would have cut the lead to 2 with 14 seconds left. His little brother, Dillon, also drilled a huge 3-pointer to break the tie with 1:46 left.
The Tigers also got a spark in the first half from backup center Christian Reeves, who scored 5 straight points against his former team. Freshman guard Del Jones, who missed the triple-overtime loss to Tech, returned to action and gave the Tigers some valuable minutes off the bench. Regular starter Chauncey Wiggins was sick and had missed practice over the past couple days, so he played just 11 minutes.
The Tigers have won 5 straight games against top-5 teams, which is the longest such streak in the country and something that was unthinkable in over 100 years of Clemson Basketball. Once again, Brad Brownell has proven me right for defending him for years against legions of Clemson fans that wanted him fired. The only disappointing thing is that the Tigers should have had another historic win over a No.1 team, but the AP voters robbed them of that. I pointed out that potential scenario when I saw that Duke was ranked No.2 behind Auburn last week despite a blowout win over UNC. Duke beat Auburn head to head, winning 16 straight games, so it was ridiculous that Duke was not ranked No.1, and I still believe that Duke is the best team in the country. Incidentally, Auburn also lost on Saturday at home to Florida. Still, it was a tremendous win for the program and this team's confidence going forward, and they have a legitimate chance to win the ACC regular season title for the second time ever! They will have to put this one in the rear view mirror, though, because they have to play a talented and desperate UNC team in less than 48 hours.
Post-game interviews and highlights are below!
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