CHARLOTTE – Clemson University Men’s basketball defeated Wake Forest 71-62 to advance in the ACC Tournament to the quarterfinals on Wednesday night against No. 4 seeded North Carolina.
Clemson committed just four turnovers in the game – the second-fewest turnovers in an ACC Tournament game since turning it over three times against North Carolina in 1995.
RJ Godfrey (Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett/Georgia) nearly recorded a double-double as he scored 11 points and pulled in eight rebounds.
The Tigers (23-9) operated a high-powered offensive attack led by Godfrey’s 11 points. Clemson’s bench outscored Wake Forest’s 34-20, and was led by Chase Thompson’s (Glenwood, Minn./Alexandria Area) nine points. Dallas Thomas (Little Rock, Ark./Parkview Magnet) added six points on two made threes, while Ace Buckner’s (Dallas, Texas/La Lumiere School (Ind.) scored eight and added five rebounds and three assists.
Butta Johnson (Huntsville, Ala./Grissom/UAB) eclipsed the 1,000-point mark of his career with eight points. He added three boards and three assists.
Clemson used a 23-9 run in the opening stanza to lead by 18 at the break, its largest first half margin of the season against an ACC opponent taking a 41-23 lead. The Tigers shot 50 percent from the field and from three to lead the Demon Deacons for 15:42 in the first period.
In the second half Clemson remained resilient to maintain its lead. Nick Davidson (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mater Dei) led the second half scoring column with all eight of his points.
The Tigers pressured Wake Forest throughout the duration of the game and forced 12 turnovers to go along with seven steals and five blocks. Clemson outscored Wake 20-4 on points off turnovers.
Clemson grabbed 40 rebounds, including 17 on the offensive glass.
Notes: Clemson improved to 23-9 overall with its win over Wake Forest … the Tigers improved to 4-7 all-time against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament … they improved to 69-103 the last two games Clemson has beaten Wake Forest, Greg Buckner had 21 in 1998 and Ace Buckner had eight on Wednesday night … Head Coach Brad Brownell won his 315th game at Clemson and his 482nd of his career … Butta Johnson eclipsed the 1,000-point mark of his career with an eight-point effort … with the win Dillon Hunter surpassed Trevor Booker and David Potter (2006-10) and now has 94 career wins at Clemson – second-most in program history (the most is his brother Chase Hunter who finished with 110).
