Clemson Finishes Big Monday with 85-65 Win over North Carolina

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson University men’s basketball routed North Carolina 85-65 on Monday night in Littlejohn Coliseum. The 20-point margin of victory was tied for the largest in Clemson history against North Carolina. 

The Tigers (20-5, 12-2 ACC) set a program record with their 10th league victory by double-digits with the 20-point win against the Tar Heels. Clemson had nine such games in 2022-23.

Viktor Lakhin (Anapa, Russia/CSKA-2/Cincinnati) posted his second consecutive 20-point outing with 22 points, six rebounds and a season-high-tying five blocked shots. 

The Tigers’ backcourt of Chase Hunter (Atlanta, Ga./Westlake) and Jaeden Zackery (Salem, Wis./Westosha Central/Boston College) was excellent, combining for 35 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and five steals. Seven of those assists were attributed to Zackery and counts as a new season high.

Hunter and Zackery totaled 19 points and 16 points, respectively.

Ian Schieffelin (Atlanta, Ga./Grayson) led the Tigers with 10 rebounds – good for his 31st career double-digit rebounding game. 

Clemson and North Carolina went back and forth in the early going of the opening stanza, but the Tar Heels held a 23-21 advantage at the 9:23 mark. One of Lakhin’s four made 3-pointers sparked a 28-10 Tiger run to end the half – leading 49-33 at the break.

In the second period, Clemson pushed its lead to a game-high 26 points midway through before coasting to the 20-point victory.

The win over the Tar Heels clinched a clean sweep of North Carolina schools for Clemson. The Tigers have beaten all four North Carolina schools in the same season nine times now, but this is the first time they have finished with a perfect record (4-0).

The Tigers return to the floor on Saturday, Feb. 15 when they travel to Florida State. Tipoff is slated for 12 p.m. on The CW. 

Notes: Clemson moves to 20-5 this season and 12-2 in the ACC … the 20-point win over North Carolina tied for the largest victory margin against UNC in school history … Head Coach Brad Brownell won his 452nd game of his career and his 285th while at Clemson … Clemson is fourth in the ACC since 2017-18 with 84 league victories … the Tigers finished 48.0 percent from three and are now 12-1 this season when shooting 40.0 percent or better from three as a team … Clemson defeated each North Carolina school for the ninth time in program history, but finished unbeaten against them for the first time in school history (4-0) … Viktor Lakhin recorded his second consecutive 20-point game with 22 points … Lakhin tied his season high with five blocks … Chase Hunter scored 19 points and now has 1,678 career points – passing Dale Davis for ninth on the all-time scoring list … Hunter extended his program record of wins at Clemson (103) … Ian Schieffelin produced his 31st career double-digit rebounding game with 10 rebounds … Schieffelin now has 803 career rebounds and is ninth on the all-time list … Jaeden Zackery set a new season high with seven assists.