February 6, 2024 | Men’s Basketball
Courtesy GoHeels.com
By: Matt Bowers
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Clemson jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the opening minutes and led by as many as 16 in the first half, then withstood a rally by North Carolina and gritted out an 80-76 win over the third-ranked Tar Heels on Tuesday night in the Smith Center.
Carolina clawed back and tied the score at 70-all with just over four minutes remaining, earning its first tie since the score was 2-2. The Tigers responded with a 7-0 run, holding UNC without a field goal for over three minutes to ice the win.
UNC never led in the game and had just one field goal in the final 4:16. Its only bucket in that stretch was a three-pointer by RJ Davis with two seconds left and the outcome no longer in question.
PJ Hall led the Tigers with 25 points and nine rebounds, hitting four three-pointers, with Joseph Girard III adding 21 points, connecting five times from behind the arc.
Armando Bacot led the Tar Heels with 24 points and 13 rebounds, hitting 10 of 11 free throw attempts. Davis scored 22 while shooting 7 for 22 from the floor (including 5 for 12 from three-point range). Harrison Ingram had 11 points and six boards.
Carolina shot just 36.9 percent as a team, its second-worst performance of the season. UNC shot 36.4 percent a week ago in a loss at Georgia Tech.
“We got what we deserved,” Bacot said afterward. “That wasn’t what we wanted. I wasn’t happy with how we practiced and with some of the things we did. I guess that is an emotional thing and a lot of stuff goes into it [coming off the win over Duke], but at the end of the day, we have a job to do and have to come in and play. Today we definitely learned that lesson.
“The hungrier team won. Coming into this game, Cormac [Ryan] has been telling us that Clemson is desperate for a win, they needed this win to keep their season alive. If they don’t win this game, then it’s a tough situation. They were hungrier. They beat us at everything.”
The Tar Heels matched their season low in a half by shooting just 31.4 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, missing 11 of 15 three-pointers while the Tigers were 6 of 14 from long range. Clemson limited Davis to 2 of 10 shooting, but Bacot kept the Tar Heels in the game with 14 first-half points.
Carolina which had won 11 of 12 games coming into the contest, fell to 18-5 overall and 10-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Clemson improved to 15-7, 5-6.
“It’s how you react and how you respond,” Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis said. “We’ll go back to work, and as I’ve said before there’s two things that you can do. You can whine and complain and point fingers and make excuses. Or you can get back up and move forward and join the fight. And for us, it’s never a choice. It’s a requirement for us to get back up and let’s get back to work.”
How It Happened
First Half
• Clemson led from start to finish in the first half, building a lead that grew to as many as 16 points before the break.
• The Tigers jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the first 3:28, forcing an early Tar Heel timeout. Clemson hit 6 of its first 7 shots from the field, including 3 of 3 three-pointers, during the run.
• Carolina responded with a 10-2 run in 3:04 to cut the lead to 17-12. Bacot scored all 10 of the points in the burst.
• UNC missed 16 of its first 22 shots from the floor (27.3 percent) in the first 12+ minutes.
• Carolina got back-to-back three-pointers in the final 1:05 from Davis and Ingram to cut the lead to 43-34 at halftime.
• Overall in the first half, Clemson shot 48.5 percent from the floor and UNC was 31.4 percent, including 4 of 15 three-pointers.
• Davis was 2 for 10 from the floor in the half, while Cormac Ryan was 0 for 6.
• The nine-point halftime deficit was UNC’s biggest this season and the largest in the Smith Center since being down 17 to Pitt on Feb. 16, 2022.
Second Half
• Carolina started the second half on a 12-6 run to cut the Clemson advantage to 49-46 with 14:57 remaining.
• After leaving the court for several minutes due to cramps, Harrison Ingram hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 70-all with just over four minutes remaining. That tied the score for the first time since 2-2.
• The Tigers responded with a 7-0 run to reclaim momentum, clamping down on defense to claim the win.
Postgame Tidbits & Notes
• Carolina leads the all-time series with Clemson, 136-24, including 60-2 in Chapel Hill and 29-2 in the Smith Center.
• UNC has won 14 of the last 18 and 24 of the last 29 meetings with the Tigers.
• The Tar Heels are 10-1 in the Smith Center this season and 37-6 at home in three seasons under head coach Hubert Davis.
• The game was Bacot’s 155th as a Tar Heel, tying Leaky Black’s UNC career record for games played. It was his 154th start, also a Carolina record. Deon Thompson played the most games in a four-year career (152).
• UNC’s Seth Trimble (upper body) and Creighton Lebo (illness) both missed the game.
• Carolina did not lead in a game for the first time since losing to Duke on 2/5/22 in Chapel Hill.
• Harrison Ingram is 13 for 25 from three-point range in the last four games.
• Davis hit five three-pointers and has multiple three-points in 20 consecutive games (extending his own school record).
• Paxson Wojcik posted season highs with seven points and six rebounds off the bench.
Up Next
Carolina will visit Miami on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Follow Tar Heel basketball on X at @UNC_Basketball and @UNCMBBstats and on Instagram at UNC_Basketball.
https://goheels.com/showcase/embed.aspx?Archive=19913&autoplay=false
https://goheels.com/showcase/embed.aspx?Archive=19911&autoplay=false
https://goheels.com/showcase/embed.aspx?Archive=19914&autoplay=false
