Hall Scores 18 as Tigers Tame Wolfpack 70-64 on Tuesday

BROOKLYN —  The Clemson University men’s basketball team (17-15, 8-12 ACC) won its fifth straight game as the tenth-seeded Tigers downed 15-seed NC State, 70-64, in the first round of the ACC Tournament at the Barclays Center on Tuesday afternoon. PJ Hall (Spartanburg, S.C./Dorman) recorded his fourth double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in his second game back from injury.

Clemson advances to play seventh-seeded Virginia Tech (19-12, 11-9 ACC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and on Clemson Athletic Network. Clemson and Virginia Tech met just three days ago on March 5, a 63-59 Clemson victory. 

On Tuesday, the Tigers held the lead for more than 35 minutes of game time, and led by as many as 11 points in the second half, withstanding a late rally to claim the victory. Clemson held NC State (11-21, 4-16 ACC) without a field goal for three minutes or more on five occasions on the day, and the Wolfpack made consecutive field goal attempts just once in the second half. 

Al-Amir Dawes (Newark, N.J./The Patrick School), who grew up just 15 miles from the Barclays Center, scored 12 points in 26 minutes and hit 3-for-8 from behind the arc. Fellow guard Nick Honor (Orlando, Fla. / Lake Highland) scored 13 points and had just one turnover in 35 minutes at the point. Honor started his college career at Fordham, less than 10 miles away, before joining Clemson after the 2018-19 season.  

Senior David Collins (Youngstown, Ohio/First Love Christian Academy) added seven points and ten rebounds. 

After NC State took an early four-point advantage, a 10-2 Clemson run midway through the first half gave the Tigers a 21-14 lead with 7:13 to play. The Tigers took a 29-24 advantage going into half. Clemson shot 25-for-60 (.417) from the floor, including a 19-37 (.514) mark from inside the arc. The Tigers scored 22 points on the fast break, 30 points in the paint, and outrebounded NC State 46-41.