The Tiger

Issue date: 6/13/08 Section: Sports

Anticipation from Clemson fans was high for the ACC tournament, as the Tigers finished third in the ACC this year behind only North Carolina and Duke. Despite continued improvement in the program, head coach Oliver Purnell was only 1-5 in ACC tournament games. A bye in the opening round meant Clemson was only two wins away from reaching the conference finals, a game they have only reached one other time in school history. The third-seeded Tigers opened up in ACC tournament play with a win over Boston College. After shaking early game jitters, the Tigers' defensive pressure took the Eagles out of the game.
Boston College was up 6-0 until a basket by K.C. Rivers put Clemson on the board. After that score, the game was all Clemson. At the 16:09 mark, Clemson took an 8-6 lead on a Cliff Hammonds three-pointer, a lead that would hold up for the rest of the game.
Against Clemson's full-court pressure, Boston College repeatedly turned over the ball and never could get into an offensive rhythm. The Tigers feasted off the Eagles' mistakes, scoring 38 points off turnovers. At the half, the Tigers led 42-25. The 17-point lead was never threatened in the second half.
In the second half, more Tigers got playing time including former walk-on senior forward Matt Morris who hit a three with 1:44 left in the game and freshman Jerai Grant who had three consecutive dunks.
For the game, Clemson was led by James Mays with 15 points and six rebounds and Raymond Sykes with 12 points and five rebounds. Rivers had 11 points and two rebounds.
In the semi-finals, Clemson faced Duke, who appeared to be the worst opponent they could draw. The Blue Devils won the previous matchup of the year 93-80, handing the Tigers their worst loss of the season. Duke's 93 points were the most given up by Clemson in a non-overtime game.
Duke scored the first points of the semi-final game against Clemson but Cliff Hammonds hit a three pointer 20 seconds later to answer. This would be the pattern all game, for everything Duke did, Clemson had an answer.
Not letting the burden of history affect them, four Tigers scored in double digits to key a 78-74 win over the Blue Devils. Trevor Booker and Hammonds led the way with 18 and 17 points respectively. Defensively, the Tigers stopped Duke from doing what they do best, hitting the three. For the game the Blue Devils, hit only six of their 26 attempts from behind the arc.
The Tigers had no such trouble, shooting 36.8 percent from three point range and 50.9 percent on field goals. A key to the Tigers victory in the second half was reaching the free throw line and converting. In the second half, the Tigers hit 13 of 17 free throw attempts. The most important moments at the line came at the end of the game.

Continued...

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