Tigers Sink Bucs in Season Opener, 91-64
CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson University men’s basketball opened the 2024-25 season in dominating fashion with a resounding 91-64 victory over Charleston Southern on Monday night in Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers (1-0) were led by Chase Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) who finished with 17 points. Nine of those came in the last 1:42 of the first half when Hunter drilled three consecutive 3-pointers to push the Tigers to a 48-24 halftime advantage.
Myles Foster (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooks School (Mass.)/Illinois State/Monmouth) matched Hunter with 17 points off the Clemson bench and added four rebounds and two blocked shots. In total, Clemson produced 40 points from the bench, including nine on three triples from Jake Heidbreder (Floyds Knobs, Ind./Floyd Central).
Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Viktor Lakhin (Anapa, Russia/CSKA-2/Cincinnati) who totaled 12. Ian Schieffelin (Atlanta, Ga./Grayson) nearly produced his first double-double of the season, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds.
Head Coach Brad Brownell wanted to create more havoc on the defensive end of the floor this season. The Tigers tallied nine steals, which tied a season-high from a year ago when Clemson totaled nine on two occasions.
Clemson outrebounded Charleston Southern 40-34, led by Schieffelin’s nine and Lakhin’s and Chase Hunter’s five. Chauncey Wiggins (Grayson, Ga./Grayson) added four boards and eight points.
Jaeden Zackery (Salem, Wis./Westosha Central/Boston College) scored six points and led the charge defensively with three steals. He added three assists.
Over the last 8:30 of the first half, Clemson outscored Charleston Southern 28-10 to lead by 24 at the break. More of the same int the second half, the Tigers led by as many as 36 to coast to the 91-64 victory.
Clemson returns to Littlejohn Coliseum on Friday, Nov. 8 when it hosts Saint Francis at 7 p.m. on ACCNX.
Notes: Clemson moves to 1-0 this season … Clemson moved to 21-0 all-time against Charleston Southern and Head Coach Brad Brownell is now 3-0 against the Buccaneers … the 91 points scored is tied for he most by Clemson in the series since 1994-95 … Clemson is now 39-1 in its last 40 season openers dating back to 1985-86 … Head Coach Brad Brownell moved to 14-1 in season openers at Clemson … Brownell won his 433rd game of his career and his 266th while at Clemson … with 17 points, Chase Hunter moved into 24th all-time on Clemson’s career scoring list (1,245) … Clemson totaled nine steals – tied for the most all of last season (nine on two occasions in 2023-24) … Clemson shot 52.4 percent from three – moving to 1-0 in 2024-25 and 105-26 under Brownell when shooting 40.0 percent or better (the Tigers were 11-0 in such games in 2023-24).