DeVoe, Reed Power Clemson to 75-67 win at Wake Forest moving to 19-4
In a back-and-forth game that featured 20 lead changes, No. 20 Clemson closed out another close game on the road to defeat Wake Forest 75-67 and move to 19-4.
A Marcquise Reed mid-range jump shot with 1:40 left gave Clemson a two-possession 69-65 lead that Wake Forest couldn't answer.
The Demon Deacons went on a 5-minute stretch without making a field goal once they grabbed a 64-63 lead. Wake Forest finished the game one-for-ten from the field as Clemson’s defense and free-throw shooting came up big in the end.
The Tigers were led by Gabe DeVoe’s 24 points, who has continued to light it up on the floor in the wake of Donte Grantham’s absence. Marcquise Reed added 22 points of his own, 18 of them coming in the second half, and seven rebounds.
Wake Forest was led by Bryant Crawford’s 16 points, and Keyshawn Woods poured in 13 points as well.
The Tigers made ten three-pointers on the afternoon, which is now five consecutive ACC games that they have won when they make at least nine. DeVoe led the charge for Clemson again from behind the three-point line. He was 5-of-7 from long-range and has at least five made threes in each of the last three games.
The biggest key for Clemson is it only turned the ball over eight times but also forced eight turnovers.
The first half was about as back-and-forth as it gets. There were a total of eight lead changes between the two teams.
DeVoe’s performance was sparked in the first half when Clemson’s sharp-shooting guard went 5-for-6 from the floor, knocking down all three of his three-point attempts. He led Clemson with 13 points at the break.
The Demon Deacons were able to get Clemson into early foul trouble, putting Wake Forest into the bonus with more than 11 minutes left in the first half. But they weren’t able to capitalize on Clemson’s miscues and only went to the free throw line seven times.
“I think some of the early fouls just kind of put us on our heels,” Brad Brownell said. “Some of the calls seemed a little looser than maybe they have been in some other games. I just felt like whatever reason it just took some sting out of our ability to defend.”
Instead, a new, more perimeter oriented Clemson team closed the first half of action hitting three consecutive threes, taking a 35-30 lead into the break.
Clemson extended its lead to 41-33 before an 11-0 run by Wake Forest over a 2:46 stretch gave the Deacons a 44-41 lead.
The Tigers finally broke the drought with a Reed that tied the game at 44 with 14:28 left.
Down by one with just under ten minutes to play, it was DeVoe again hitting from distance to give Clemson a 56-54 lead, but a quick 5-0 run by Wake Forest once again put the Tigers’ backs against the wall, down three on the road with just 8:46 remaining.
Donovan Mitchell made some clutch shots for the Demon Deacons. All nine of his points came on three-point attempts, his third putting his team up 64-63 with 5:39 left in the game. Mitchell made 3-of-4 three-pointers against Clemson but came into the game 0-for-9 against the rest of the ACC.
That was the last time Wake Forest made a field goal until it was too late.
The Tigers went into a 3-2 zone and forced Wake Forest to take some bad shots. The zone disrupted what the Deacons were trying to do offensively, and it came at the right time.
“We talked about it for several possessions over there, and sometimes we like to use it late like that because it’s not always easy late when a team throws a zone at you,” Brownell added. “I compromised with them; I said, ‘We’re playing zone fellas, and we are keeping (Reed) out there.”
Trailing 64-63, Reed had to be on the floor for crunch time.
The guard put up a short jumper, got his rebound, and tipped it out to DeVoe who fired the ball back to Reed for an open three. He was fouled in the act of shooting giving the guard three free throws with 3:39 on the clock.
Reed, a solid free throw shooter, missed the first attempt but was able to hit the second two giving Clemson a 65-64 lead.
Moments later, David Skara hit two free throws, and the Tigers were able to expand their lead to three with 2:18 left.
Reed, as cold-blooded as he is, then hit a jumper giving Clemson a 69-65 lead. Wake couldn’t answer and Reed, who was 2-for-4 from the line at the time, was fouled. The junior, an 86.5-percent free-throw shooter went to the charity stripe and hit two clutch free throws giving Clemson a 71-65 lead with 40.1 seconds left.
Reed had four points in the first half, but his 18 second-half points led Clemson to its third consecutive victory. This performance has become routine for Reed, who has scored at least 13 second-half points in the last three games.
The duo of Reed and DeVoe have been playing so elite lately for the Tigers, who are now 8-3 in ACC play. The two combined for 46 of Clemson’s 75 points and seem to be in groove offensively. Brownell was impressed with how his guards have played recently.
“What you are really excited about is their efficiency numbers,” Brownell said. “Gabe's efficiency numbers have been out of this world, 8 out of 11 and five more threes again today. Obviously, Marcquise down the stretch made a couple of big shots. Missed the free throws, which surprised us all, but made a couple more late.”
The Tigers will continue to look for their perimeter players to lead them as conference play pushes on. Clemson now gets a few days of rest before playing a struggling Pittsburgh team on Thursday back home in Littlejohn.
If Clemson can close out the season the way it has closed out close games this season, it should be in a prime position for a postseason run.