Second-Largest Victory Margin in Clemson NCAA History Powers Tigers to Second Round

MEMPHIS – Clemson University men’s basketball posted the second largest victory margin in the NCAA Tournament in program history to advance to the second round with a decisive 77-56 win over No. 11 seed New Mexico on Friday afternoon.

The Tigers (22-11) were powered by Chase Hunter’s (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Hunter added a team-high six assists and collected three rebounds and two steals.

Ian Schieffelin (Loganville, Ga./Grayson) totaled his 10th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) added 14 points, three rebounds and a steal.

Jack Clark (Cheltenham, Pa./Cheltenham) was more than solid with six points, eight rebounds and four assists, in addition to suffocating defense.

Clemson’s bench outscored New Mexico’s 13-12, which was led by RJ Godfrey (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett) with six and Chauncey Wiggins (Grayson, Ga./Grayson) with five.

The Tigers went back and forth with the Lobos in the early going, but Clemson would race out to a 30-11 advantage in the opening stanza thanks to a 19-2 run. Clemson coasted to a 14-point lead at the break 42-28.

A 9-2 run coming out of halftime extended the Tigers’ advantage to 21. A Hunter jumper with 2:04 left gave Clemson its largest lead of the game at 75-52 and the Tigers would coast to the 21-point victory.

The Tigers held the Lobos to just 29.7 percent shooting from the floor – its lowest field goal percentage of the season by nearly 6.0 percent. It’s the second-best field goal percentage difference in an NCAA Tournament game for the Tigers (25.8 percent vs. Auburn – 3/18/18).

Clemson advances to Sunday’s second round game against No. 3 seed Baylor. The tip time and network are TBD.