Clemson hoops rallies past Wake Forest to stay hot in ACC play
Aamir Simms had been the key to Clemson’s recent resurgence, scoring at least 17 points in five consecutive games entering Tuesday night’s matchup against Wake Forest.
Clemson went 3-2 during that stretch with a win at North Carolina and against No. 3 Duke as the Tigers climbed out of the ACC basement. But with Simms unable to get going offensively against the Demon Deacons, others stepped up to ensure Clemson stayed hot.
Hunter Tyson scored a career-high 21 points as Clemson rallied from a 10-point deficit for a 71-68 win over Wake Forest at Littlejohn Coliseum. The win moves Clemson to 4-1 in its last five games, and the Tigers are now 10-8 (4-4) entering Saturday’s showdown at No. 6 Louisville.
“Really happy for my players and proud of my guys. This was a hard fought game,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Happy for Hunter. Hunter’s been playing well... He’s an extremely hard worker and he’s starting to do more things. He’s playing at a good level and certainly was the man of the match for us today.”
Simms had his lowest scoring game since scoring four points against Alabama A&M on Nov. 21 as he finished with seven points in 29 minutes against Wake. But in addition to Tyson’s impressive offensive performance, Clyde Trapp, Curran Scott and John Newman each scored nine points.
The Tigers shot 50 percent from the field, including 54 percent in the second half, to erase a 37-31 halftime deficit.
Tyson was 9-for-13 from the field and scored 12 points in the second half to key the turnaround.
“I really just got going pretty early, I think, and my teammates were finding me,” Tyson said. “Coach put me in a lot of great positions to put the ball in the basket. I’ve just got to give credit to the other guys, really, because without them I wouldn’t have been able to succeed like I did tonight.”
Wake Forest’s Andrien White led all scorers with 22 points, while Olivier Sarr (16 points) and Brandon Childress (14) also scored in double figures.
Clemson earned the win despite another dreadful performance from the free-throw line. The Tigers made only 7 of 18 attempts, a game after making 9 of 23 free throws in a 60-54 loss at N.C. State over the weekend.
The Tigers opened the game 1 of 10 from the free-throw line and at one point were 10 of 33 from the stripe over the past two games.
“Our guys are in all the time shooting and shooting free throws. All those kinds of things. That’s all great, but then when there’s 7 or 8,000 people watching you do it it’s different,” Brownell said. “Unless we want to have practice and have 7 or 8,000 people watch our guys shoot 100. Maybe we’ll do that if 7,000 people want to come.”
Point guard Clyde Trapp in particular struggled, going 2-for-7 from the line.
“At the end of the day you’ve got to get back in the gym and practice on our free throws,” Trapp said. “I’m just kind of maybe overthinking it right now. Just repetition, getting back in the gym, shooting hundreds of free throws. That’s my plan.”
Clemson Wake Forest basketball box score
WAKE FOREST (9-9): Childress 4-11 4-5 14, Johnson 2-8 0-0 4, White 7-15 5-5 22, Sarr 7-11 2-4 16, Massoud 1-6 0-0 3, Oguama 1-2 0-0 2, Neath 2-2 0-0 4, Mucius 1-2 0-1 3. Totals 25-57 11-15 68.
CLEMSON (10-8): Newman 4-7 0-3 9, Simms 2-6 2-2 7, Trapp 3-6 2-7 9, Scott 3-8 2-2 9, Tyson 9-13 1-2 21, Mack 3-6 0-2 7, Dawes 2-5 0-0 5, Hunter 0-2 0-0 0, Jemison 1-1 0-0 2, Moore 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-56 7-18 71.
Halftime—Wake Forest 37-31. 3-Point Goals—Wake Forest 7-30 (White 3-9, Childress 2-7, Mucius 1-2, Massoud 1-5, Sarr 0-2, Johnson 0-5), Clemson 8-25 (Tyson 2-5, Newman 1-2, Dawes 1-3, Scott 1-3, Simms 1-3, Trapp 1-3, Mack 1-4, Hunter 0-2). Fouled Out—Childress. Rebounds—Wake Forest 34 (Sarr 12), Clemson 31 (Trapp 8). Assists—Wake Forest 6 (Childress 6), Clemson 15 (Trapp 4). Total Fouls—Wake Forest 18, Clemson 17. A—6,951 (10,000).
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 10:09 PM.
