CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The tradition-filled Atlantic Coast Conference tournament has taken an unfamiliar twist: Clemson is sticking around for the weekend.
James Mays scored 15 points on Friday and Clemson overwhelmed Boston College with its full-court press, cruising to an 82-48 win to reach the semifinals for the first time in 10 years.
Early trips home have been the routine for the Tigers, who were 14-54 all-time entering the night and are the only charter member of the league never to win the tournament title in its 55-year history.
But against the undermanned and inexperienced Eagles, Clemson posted its largest margin of victory in its checkered ACC tournament history to earn a date with No. 7 Duke on Saturday.
``I'm really happy to advance,'' Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. ``We came here to win the ACC championship.
Don't laugh just yet. Another difficult task looms since Clemson has lost 22 straight games to Duke. But the Tigers' roster of springy forwards and speedy guards has put them in position for their first NCAA tournament bid since 1998.
``It definitely was a great feeling to come out and get our defense going,'' Mays said. ``That's what we live off, that's what we pride ourselves in, that's our motto: pressure defense. We really wanted to jump on them before they jumped on us.''
After a sluggish start, the Tigers (23-8) made life miserable for the Eagles, who often had trouble getting the ball across midcourt. Boston College (14-17) committed 22 turnovers a night after the 11th-seeded Eagles stunned Maryland to keep their season alive.
``It wasn't the best opponent for us to play, but still we should have responded a little bit better than we did,'' BC coach Al Skinner said. We just did not meet the challenge, it was that simple.''
BC top scorer Tyrese Rice had to work for his 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. His young teammates gave him little help, as the Eagles closed the season with 13 losses in 15 games and were no match for Clemson's relentless pressure.
``There are lot of things that we need to work on,'' Rice said. ``We'll be ready for the kind of things next year that we weren't ready for this year. We have to be ready to correct those mistakes.''
Clemson, holding its highest ACC seed in 18 years, looked nervous early, missing its first five shots in falling behind 6-0. But after the shots started falling and the Tigers could set up their press, it was over quick as in a 19-0 run before the game was 7 minutes old.
Four of BC's six turnovers during the spurt were in its backcourt, and Clemson led by as many as 24 points in the first half, scoring on a variety of picturesque dunks and driving layups in transition.
Raymond Sykes added 12 points and K.C. Rivers had 11 points as 10 players scored for the Tigers, who shot 48 percent in their fourth win in five games.
``It's just like seeing the air go out of a balloon or something,'' Rivers said of the Eagles. ``It just seemed like the life was sucked out of them, like they just didn't want it any more, that they weren't going to put up another fight for it.''
The rout allowed Purnell to rest many of his regulars in the second half. That's good because the Tigers had only about 16 hours to prepare for the Blue Devils, an 82-70 winner over Georgia Tech earlier Friday.
``It's definitely exciting to get another chance to play Duke or North Carolina,'' Mays said. ``We just have to approach it like we have been approaching every game this year. We really have to prepare like no other.''
Clemson's previous biggest blowout in the ACC tournament was a 21-point win over North Carolina State in the 1962, the only year the Tigers reached the ACC final.
Thursday
October 24th, 2024
2:16AM
