Three Takeaways from No. 15 Clemson's win over struggling Pittsburgh
CLEMSON -- The game was never in doubt.
No. 15 Clemson came out firing in the second half to run away from Pittsburgh in dominant fashion. The Tigers let the Panthers hang around a bit in the first half, but the Tigers poured it on down the stretch.
There wasn’t much of a challenge against a struggling Pittsburgh team that hasn’t won a game in conference play yet. It was a game Clemson used to get some more momentum (if that was possible) heading into a tough stretch to end the regular season.
On the day after teams ranked one, three, and eight fell, there would be no let down for the Tigers.
Here are three takeaways from Clemson’s 20th win of the season.
Another Day, Another Career-Night for Gabe DeVoe
If you haven’t heard, no one is feeling it more than Gabe DeVoe is right now.
It’s become a recurring theme and every game it’s the same takeaway: DeVoe is stepping up leading the way and doing so with some career-performances.
It was another walk in the park for DeVoe on Thursday night. Just when you thought he was going to cool off after missing a few shots early, DeVoe caught fire, again. DeVoe scored 19 of his career-high tying 25 points in the second half.
He made a new career-high seven threes, some from upwards to 35-plus feet. It was the fourth game in a row DeVoe had made at least five threes in a row, tying a school record.
The last four games, DeVoe has averaged just under 23 points and has scored at least 24 points in three of them. What’s been remarkable about DeVoe’s game during this 4-game stretch is his efficiency while putting up the numbers he has. He’s shooting 61 percent from the field and 64.7 percent from the three-point line.
His ability to consistently knock down shots from long range has forced defenses to come way out to guard him. It has added a new element to Clemson’s offense since Donte Grantham went down, believe it or not.
“There are certain things we do where we run screening action for him,” Brad Brownell said. “As they continue to come out further, we need to make more plays underneath it. They went some zone and extended some and I thought we got it in the high post a couple of times, and David (Skara) made a couple of baskets doing that. There are some things you get because of shooting and stretching the floor. Some of that is going to have to continue.”
DeVoe said he feels no pressure when he’s on the floor and is shooting with no conscience, but he didn’t need to say anything. It shows.
Will he ever cool off?
DeVoe: “Hopefully I'll get five more next game."
Pitt-iful
As well as Clemson played on Thursday night, it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Pittsburgh is a struggling program at the moment under Kevin Stallings. The Panthers have yet to win an ACC game and have only won eight games this season. It’s a roster that has twelve new players.
Twelve.
Pittsburgh is one of the youngest programs in the country and is in total rebuild mode. That’s not to say the Panthers haven’t been in some games this year. This team led by ten in the second half at N.C. State before losing by four.
They seem to show up on most nights and play relatively hard, but Thursday night was different for Stallings’ group.
The Panthers came out sluggish and looked like they didn’t want to be there. This quote from Stallings after the game was interesting:
“This is probably only the second time this season I could say this: I didn’t think we approached this game with the right mentality. And I’m not sure why because we had good practices and we had energetic practices. I could tell today at the shoot-around that we weren’t where we needed to be. I’ve got to figure out why that happened and try to prevent that from happening again.
“There was a lack of focus, and I brought it to our attention, but apparently not well enough.”
Sheesh.
To not be able to get up for a big game against a ranked opponent says a lot about the psyche about the program right now.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the Panthers, and Stallings, moving forward as they continue the rebuilding process in front of a frustrated fan base.
Elijah Thomas and David Skara
Clemson got some great play from Elijah Thomas and David Skara against Pittsburgh.
The Tigers got the ball down to Thomas on the inside block early and often, which has been a point of emphasis for Brownell recently. He knows if his team is going to make a postseason run, he’ll need Thomas to contribute inside offensively.
Thomas had a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds, the sixth double-double of the season for him and the eighth of his career. His tenth rebound was his 300th in his career at Clemson.
Skara also found himself in the starting lineup and had his best game scoring wise in ACC play. His nine points were the most he’s scored on an ACC team this season and is a step in the right direction as he continues to improve.
His role is to be Clemson’s key, lengthy defender, but if he can give Clemson six to ten points a game, along with Thomas’ offensive output, the Tigers should be in good shape.
Clemson has a tough three-game stretch ahead on the road to Florida State, at home against Duke, then back on the road to Virginia Tech.
These next three games should give us a more telling sign of how far this Clemson team can go.