Barclays Center—Clemson is playing their basketball right now, winning the last four games and they hope to continue their success in the ACC Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Tigers (17-15, 8-12 ACC) won its fifth straight game as the tenth-seeded Clemson’s team beat No. 15-seed NC State (11-21, 4-16 ACC), 70-64, in the first round of the ACC Tournament at the Barclays Center on Tuesday afternoon. PJ Hall scored 18 points and 10 boards, Nick Honor chipped 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Also, Hall recorded his fourth double-double of the season coming back from injury.
Clemson will advance 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 a few days ago on March 5, a 63-59 Clemson victory.
NC State took an early four-point lead, but a 10-2 Tigers run halfway through the first half gave Clemson a 21-14 lead with 7:13 to play. Clemson regained a 29-24 advantage going into break. The Tigers shot 25-for-60 (.417) from the hardwood, including a 19-37 (.514) mark from inside the arc. The Tigers ran the floor well had 22 points on the fast break, 30 points on the blocks, and outrebounded the Wolfpack 46-41.
Dereon Seabron made four straight free throws in a little over a minute late in the second half to get N.C. State as close as six, but Al-Amir Dawes, who grew up a few miles from the Barclays Center, scored 12 points in 26 minutes and hit 3-for-8 from behind the arc. Seabron scored six straight N.C. State points during a 8-2 run to pull within 39-36, the Tigers didn’t fold at the runs.
Seabron led N.C. State with 19 points, 12 boards and six assists. Jericole Hellems added 13 points and Terquavion Smith, averaging 16.5 points per game, missed his first 11 shots, seven from distance, before finishing the game with seven points.
N.C. State got as close as five points with 1:15 to go, but Hall made two free throws and blocked Seabron’s shot at the other end to seal it.
Dawes added 12 points and Hunter finished with eight points for Clemson.
Chase Hunter came up big with each trip to the line with 3-pointers to keep Clemson in control.
