Clemson soars over the Eagles into the ACC Tournament semifinals
For the first time since 2011, Clemson is moving on to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
The No. 4-seeded Tigers tied a school record for made threes in the ACC Tournament with 12 on their way to a 90-82 victory over Boston College in Brooklyn.
Clemson (23-8, 12-7) was led by the duo of Gabe DeVoe, who scored a game-high 25 points, and Shelton Mitchell, who scored 21 points after not scoring in Clemson’s final regular season game at Syracuse. Four players scored in double-figures for Clemson as Marcquise Reed, and Aamir Simms added 12 and ten points between them.
The Tigers made 12 of their 28 three-pointers, including nine in the first half, and needed every one of them against a Boston College team that has elite guard play. Clemson also limited its turnovers to just seven in the win.
The Tigers are now 3-0 all-time against Boston College in the ACC Tournament.
After building a 16-point lead in the second half, Boston College went on a run to cut the lead to just two points. The Eagles started the second half missing their first five threes, but then made five in a row to give Boston College life. The Eagles were led by the duo of Ky Bowman and Jerome Robinson who combined to score 43 points.
“Just tried to make them make tough plays and run them in transition. We knew this was their third game in three days,” DeVoe said.
But the duo of Mitchell and DeVoe were just a bit better, scoring 46 of the team’s season-high 90 points.
“We just stayed composed,” DeVoe said.
Once the lead was cut to two, Mitchell hit a tough jump shot, and Clemson answered the call with some clutch play, and free throws down the stretch closed the game out. Clemson made 20 of its 22 free-throw attempts.
Clemson overcame a 7-0 start by Boston College, putting together a 36-13 run to take a commanding thirteen point lead with 5:40 seconds remaining in the first half of action.
After a slow start, Clemson heated up with some sharp-shooting from distance as the Tigers hit 9-of-17 from beyond the arc in the first half of action.
Following an Amir Simms three-pointer with 14:15 left in the first half, Clemson scored from the field on their next eight possessions. During that run alone, Simms, Mitchell, Mark Donnal, Reed, and DeVoe all hit from distance. At the time, Clemson trailed 12-5, by the end of the run they led in the Barclays Center 28-20 with just 8:14 seconds left before the break.
Clemson led 55-39 with 13:45 left in the game, but BC put together a 22-8 run to cut Clemson’s lead to two at 63-61 with 5:47 seconds left to play. Mitchell answered back with a quick jumper from the wing to kill the Eagles’ momentum.
“We knew they were going to make a run at some point,” Mitchell said. “I wasn’t necessarily surprised. They were a good team.”
A player who hasn’t been talked about much this season is redshirt freshman A.J. Oliver who had his best performance of his career. He knocked down all three of his three-point attempts, including a huge one from the wing with 4:25 left extending Clemson lead back up to six at 68-62 and settling the Eagles’ late run.
Oliver outscored Boston College's bench by himself as Clemson outscored the Eagles 14-4 in bench points.
"He lost his confidence midway through the year," Brownell said of Oliver's play. "He has responded with an incredible attitude. He’s been playing well the last month in practice, and I thought it was time to reward him. What he did today was huge. I couldn’t be more proud of him because it hasn't been easy for him."
In the final three minutes, Clemson’s Elijah Thomas snagged a huge offensive rebound and powered in a slam dunk and then drew a charge on the defensive end to give Clemson the momentum it needed. A Mitchell dribble, drive, and penetration factored in slicing through the Boston College defense giving Clemson a 74-64 lead with 2:31 left that wouldn’t be relinquished.
Clemson now has 20 wins all-time in the ACC Tournament and will look to avenge its worst loss of the season against No. 1 Virginia at 7:00 PM Friday night in the semifinals.
The Tigers have not been to the ACC Championship since 2008.