Tigers’ Rally Falls Short Against Nebraska; MBB Falls 68-66

CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson University men’s basketball lost its second consecutive contest on Monday night, 68-66, against Nebraska in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Tigers (5-2) were led offensively by Elijah Thomas who scored 16 points and finished 7-for-8 from the floor. Thomas also tallied four rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot.

Both graduate senior starting guards Marcquise Reed and Shelton Mitchell finished in double-figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

With the Tigers down 42-37 to the Cornhuskers (6-1) with 15:02 left in the second stanza, Reed scored eight of the Tigers’ next 10 points, but Nebraska seemingly had an answer for every Clemson bucket.

Clemson trailed by a game-high eight points following a 3-pointer by Thomas Allen with 2:29 left, but the Tigers wouldn’t go away. Clemson finished the game on a 10-4 run. The Tigers cut it to just two points with 57 seconds left, but couldn’t get over the hump.

The Tigers will return home next Tuesday, Dec. 4 when they host Saint Peter’s in Littlejohn Coliseum. Tip-time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Notes: 

Shelton Mitchell eclipsed the 950 point mark of his career (951 points) … Clemson assisted on 15-of-its-26 made baskets on the night (57.7 percent) … the team’s 15 assists was the third-highest total of the season … Elijah Thomas swatted another shot, bringing his Clemson career total to 113 (13 shy of tying for 10th all-time in program history) … Javan White tied a season-high with 13 minutes played … Clyde Trapp has posted back-to-back games of 3-for-4 field goal nights and has hit his last four 3-pointers on the season … Clemson outrebounded Nebraska 30-29 and has outrebounded its opponent six times in seven games this season … after hitting 30 3-pointers in its first three games, Clemson has made 18 in its last four (18-of-70).