Clemson Basketball goes wire-to-wire to knock off Notre Dame 67-58; Donte Grantham Injured

CLEMSON -- Clemson basketball never tailed Saturday afternoon on its way to a 67-58 victory over Notre Dame, moving to 16-3, 5-2 in the ACC.

It was Clemson’s first ever win against Notre Dame.

Gabe DeVoe led the way for Clemson offensively with a team-high 17 points. Notre Dame’s TJ Gibbs led all scorers with 18 points on the afternoon.

However, the win didn’t come without a cost.

Donte Grantham, who Brad Brownell said was a little banged up this week, left the game with an injured knee halfway through the second half. Brownell said Grantham is scheduled for an MRI on the injured knee but didn’t have any further knowledge of the situation.

Grantham was driving to the basket and did a jump stop and fell awkwardly to the ground. He tried to get up immediately, but couldn’t. He was assisted off the floor, not putting any weight on it, and didn’t return.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Donte,” Brownell said. “We hope that that turns out well… He’s had a very good year for us and we are hopeful that it’s not over.”

After the injury, Shelton Mitchell came alive with five straight points for the Tigers, his first made baskets of the game. Mitchell and Reed took it upon themselves to lead Clemson once Grantham exited the game.

Mitchell scored 10 of his 12 points after the Grantham injury and sparked Clemson’s energy down the stretch.

“I thought Shelton Mitchell really elevated his play,” Brownell said. “I thought he made some big plays and was aggressive while all that was going on.”

Clemson’s offense got out to the start it was looking for and picked things up right where it left off Tuesday night in Chapel Hill. At one point against North Carolina, the Tigers made 15 consecutive shots, a program record. Saturday afternoon, Clemson made its first seven shots to build a 17-8 lead.

For the second straight game, Gabe DeVoe led Clemson in scoring in the first half helping Clemson to a 33-30 halftime lead. He had 14 points, shooting 4-of-8 from the floor.

Even though Clemson led for the entire game, Clemson could never get away from the Irish all evening. It remained a one to two possession game for most of the second half, but Notre Dame couldn’t get over the hump.

With 3:40 left in the game, Elijah Thomas forced a jump ball and Gabe DeVoe answered with a three-pointer to give Clemson a 9-point lead. Notre Dame came right back with threes on their next two possessions to cut Clemson’s lead to 59-56 with 2:12 to play.

Aamir Simms, Grantham’s replacement, made the biggest play of the game.

Simms hit his third 3-pointer of the season to put Clemson back up by six with a minute remaining breaking the backs of the Irish. He was two for his previous 12 from behind the arc until his third put the game away for good to keep the Tigers undefeated at home this season.

Brownell and the rest of his team have preached one common theme to each other this season: Be ready. Stay ready. Simms came into the game averaging just over nine minutes per game. His 14 minutes played against Notre Dame showed everyone that he can be called upon when needed.

“My teammates always do a great job of telling me ‘stay ready,’ and ‘be ready whenever you get put on that court,’” Simms said. “My first mindset isn’t about offense… my main focus is to give my energy, attitude, and effort every single time I got out there.”

Simms didn't just get it done with a clutch basket, but he had a clutch block at the rim as well that sealed the deal for Clemson. The crowd rose to their feet in appreciation of his performance.

When asked was asked which play was more exciting, the block or the three, his answer was easy.

“The block,” Simms said. “The block was a key stop. The defensive stop is more important. That’s what is going to win championship games.”

Brownell was ecstatic on the court after Simm’s block. He was most proud of how Simms and the rest of his team responded and kept their composure once Grantham went down.

“I thought our guys just kept playing,” Brownell said. “We talked about - ‘just keep doing your job. We’ll be fine. We can’t do anything with Donte right now to help him so we are going to do what he wants us to do: we play.’”

In what was a good turnaround after a tough loss at North Carolina, Clemson got off to a good start both halves, which is something Brownell wanted to see coming into today’s game. The Tigers got the job done again with their defense.

The Irish made 24 shots on 62 attempts from the floor. They hoisted 31 shots from behind the arc, but were only able to knock down eight of them.

Clemson’s defense also did a good job of defending Matt Farrell, Notre Dame’s starting guard. He attempted 10 three-pointers, but only made two, his only makes of the game.

Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey was in a surprisingly good mood after the game. His team has been without senior Bonzie Colson who is out several more weeks after fracturing a bone in his foot on December 29. Brey said if his team is able to beat Virginia Tech and get to 4-4 in ACC play, then it’ll feel like 8-0.

He was complimentary of the job Brownell has done this season, especially when the game has been on the line.

“They made big plays with game pressure on them,” Brey said. “Past Clemson teams we have played, they haven’t made the play. Tonight, they made the play… I just think they are a very confident group that’s pointing toward the NCAA tournament this year.

“They got the look this year and I know Brad’s built it to this year being the year.”

Clemson goes back on the road to No. 2 Virginia on Tuesday night.