Clemson falls 55-52 in season finale, but secures a top 4 seed in the ACC Tournament
In front of the largest on-campus crowd to watch a basketball game this season, 28,670 fans witnessed a thriller in ACC play as Syracuse (19-12, 8-10) topped Clemson (22-8, 11-7) 55-52.
Clemson wasn't able to overcome a slow start and a cold-shooting first half in a game that could have led to a program record 12th conference win. Instead, Clemson will have to look to the future to set a new mark in conference play.
The Tigers stumbled through the first half including a drought that lasted nearly 10 minutes. Gabe DeVoe scored a layup with 14:56 left in the first half, but Clemson didn’t knock down another shot from the floor until 4:57 remaining when Eli Thomas hit a 15-foot shot from the elbow.
Incredibly after the cold spell, Thomas' jumper tied the game at 16 and was part of a 14-6 run by the Tigers helping them to a 25-22 lead at the half.
In the second half, Syracuse’s Tyus Battle came out firing knocking down several deep threes including his 1,000th career point tying the game at 30 with 17:07 left. Battle along with teammate Oshea Brissett led the Orange in scoring with 17 points apiece.
In the second half, Clemson's Marcquise Reed seemed to have the answer hitting four three-pointers of his own keeping Clemson in the game. Reed scored a game-high 21 points to go along with Thomas' 18 points and six rebounds.
Trailing 47-45 Reed drilled his third three-pointer of the second half handing Clemson a one-point lead with 5:23 remaining. The Orange answered with two Battle free throws, but Elijah Thomas powered through a Syracuse defender giving Clemson a 50-49 lead with just 3:51 left.
What happened next will certainly be talked about quite a bit over the next few days.
Thomas was fouled with 2:54 left. The big man missed both free throws, but Clemson secured the offensive rebound. Reed fired up an attempt, but the ball hit off the back of the iron. While the ball was in the air, Thomas gained inside position but was called for a foul sending Brad Brownell through the Carrier Dome roof.
That foul allowed Syracuse's Brissett to go to the free throw line, giving the Orange a lead they would never relinquish with just 2:27 left.
The Tigers missed a shot on their next possession. Following two Paschal Chukwu free throws, Reed turned the ball back over to Syracuse. Clemson answered with a quick defensive stand allowing Reed to make it 54-52 with just 44 seconds left after a fast break layup.
Syracuse advanced the ball and Jim Boeheim took a timeout with 30.8 left. Clemson played out the possession, getting another defensive stop.
With the ball in hand and a chance to tie the game, Reed sliced through the lane putting up a shot that was rejected. The ball landed out of bounds and with 3.4 seconds left the officials wanted to review to see who the ball hit last.
After a short review, it was determined that the ball went out of bounds off of a Clemson player giving Syracuse the ball.
The Tigers fouled with 2.2 seconds left sending Marek Dolezaj to the line. Dolezaj nailed the first free throw, and Brownell decided to take a timeout to ice the freshman from Slovakia.
The Tigers got what he wanted as Dolezaj missed the second free throw, giving Clemson hope. Mitchell got the rebound and quickly rifled a pass up to Reed who’s three-pointers went in-and-out giving Syracuse a 55-52 win.
Leading up to the game the assumption was Clemson had to win in order to get a double-bye at the conference tournament next week.
However, for Clemson, any concerns about needing a win to earn the double-bye at the ACC tournament were lifted before the tip thanks to Miami's win over Virginia Tech earlier in the day.
With the loss, Clemson now needs N.C. State to fall to Louisville and Duke to beat North Carolina tonight in order to finish third in the conference, but the Tigers will get a double-bye next week no matter what.