No. 3 UNC falls to Clemson on heels of Duke
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.– Brad Brownell kept informing his Clemson players that they were a better team than their results had actually shown so far with their NCAA competition hopes in question.Taking down No. 3 North
Carolina on the road for only the second time in program history definitely assists drive home that message.PJ Hall had 25 points along with the go-ahead putback with 3:14 left as the Tigers stunned the Tar Heels 80-76 on Tuesday night, making a marquee win regardless of blowing a 16-point lead.”We just held on, “Brownell said, adding:”However our guys completed, which was actually great to see.”Joseph Girard III added 21 points for the Tigers(15-7, 5-6 ACC), including a big 3-pointer at the 2:09 mark to follow Hall’s basket. The Tigers never ever tracked yet had to fight to the last seconds to protect the win against the Tar Heels( 18-5, 10-2), who were coming off a psychological rivalry win against No. 9 Duke 3 days earlier.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The Tar Heels ‘previous 2 games after beating Duke are now a home loss to Clemson as
a 6.5-point favorite, and a loss to Kansas in the national championship game in April 2022, where UNC blew a 15-point halftime lead.Clemson lost its first 59 games in Chapel Hill before breaking through in 2020 for an overtime win. Now the Tigers have won 2 of three journeys here given that. This one comes after the Tigers had lost three of 5 by a combined five points, consisting of a 72-71 loss at Duke with the Tigers a 2nd far from their first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium because 1995. “Simply keep playing, male, “Hall said of Brownell’s message.”Keep playing, believe in ourselves, think we’re a great team and understand the guy next to you wishes to win simply as much as you.
“When the game was over, Ian Schieffelin (14 points, 11 rebounds)joined several Tigers players waving bye-bye to the UNC crowd as they skipped their way into the tunnel.Clemson has just one other road win vs. an AP top-three challenger in program history: Jan. 1976 vs. No. 2 Maryland.Armando Bacot had 24 points and 13 rebounds, his 78th profession double-double, to lead UNC. He inched near Ralph Sampson(84 )for the 2nd most in ACC history. RJ
Davis included 22 points, and with his 17th point of the night(very first free throw with 6:30 left), he reached 1,789 profession points, passing Michael Jordan for the 15th-most points in North Carolina history.But the Tar Heels shot simply 36.9%and made 9 of 27 3-pointers in a car of a follow-up to beating the Blue Devils.It was a fitting outcome, thinking about how the Tigers brought the action from suggestion. The Tigers struck their very first five shots and rolled to a 15-2 lead on Hall’s 3-pointer that had UNC coach Hubert Davis burning a timeout less than 3 1/2 minutes in.
“It’s not about Xs and Os, there’s absolutely nothing from a basketball standpoint we can discuss until the energy and effort and enthusiasm rises
,” Hubert Davis stated of that timeout message.This game represented a significant opportunity for Clemson. Ranked No. 39 by KenPom and sitting at 37th in the Web, the Tigers were 3-4 in Quadrant 1 games that top a postseason résumé, including against No. 16 Alabama in November. This was big, especially with just one Q1 chance left from here( at Wake Forest on March 9)The Tar Heels, meanwhile, didn’t have top reserve Seth Trimble due to an upper-body injury, and one of the most of the regulars had a hard time offensively. Davis needed 22 shots to get his output and banked in a meaningless 3-pointer on UNC’s last ownership, while fellow starter Cormac Ryan handled 2 points on 1-for-10 shooting.ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press added to this report.