ACC surprise: Clemson basketball knocks UNC out of conference tournament
UNC made Clemson fight until the very last second for it, but the Tigers’ long run of ACC men’s basketball tournament struggles is finally over.
Clemson extended its stay in Charlotte another night by upsetting UNC 80-79 in a thrilling quarterfinal win Thursday at Spectrum Center.
Not only is it a huge Quadrant 1 win for Clemson’s NCAA Tournament résumé, it marks the first time since 2008 that Clemson has won two games at a single ACC Tournament. That 18-year streak spanned Brad Brownell’s entire coaching tenure with the Tigers and has included a lot of recent heartbreaks.
But the No. 5 seed Tigers have advanced to Friday’s ACC semifinal round and will play No. 1 seed Duke, the regular-season league champion who blew out Clemson in Durham earlier this year. The Blue Devils are dealing with some injuries and looked vulnerable in an 80-79 quarterfinal win earlier Thursday vs. No. 8 Florida State.
Clemson and Duke will play at 9:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN2, following the ACC Tournament semifinal game between No. 2 Virginia and No. 3 Miami.
Regardless of how that game goes, this ACC Tournament has already been a big win for Clemson (24-9), which entered having lost five of its past seven conference games — and lost starting forward Carter Welling to a season-ending torn ACL in its opening tournament game against Wake Forest on Wednesday.
While the Tigers were favored by 1.5 points against North Carolina (24-8), Thursday’s win very much qualified as an upset. Not only was Clemson seeded lower than UNC, it entered 1-15 all-time against the Tar Heels in ACC Tournament games.
“A fantastic win for us,” Brownell said postgame. “I’m really happy for our team.”
Clemson led by as many as 18 points in the second half and somehow won despite having zero field goals in the final 3:36 of game time ... and getting outscored 19-7 by the Tar Heels in that same timeframe.
With 2.7 seconds left, Clemson forward Nick Davidson stepped to the line with his team up 80-79. He missed the first free throw, which he was trying to make.
During the ensuing Clemson timeout, Davidson said Brownell and his staff asked him to miss his second free throw with a “soft touch,” so UNC (which had no timeouts left) couldn’t inbound the ball or benefit from a long rebound.
Davidson intentionally missed the free throw perfectly — it was a little short, then rolled off the left rim — and UNC forward Jarin Stevenson’s desperation heave from well beyond half-court airballed to clinch a one-point Clemson win.
Davidson had a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double for Clemson, and five other players scored in double figures including redshirt freshman guard Ace Buckner (whose dad, Greg Buckner, helped Clemson beat UNC in an ACC Tournament game in Charlotte 30 years and four days before his son did).
“As a team, we just wanted it more,” Tigers guard Dillon Hunter said.
Game recap
Clemson and UNC met just over a week ago in Chapel Hill in a low-scoring affair. The usually high-powered Tar Heels won that game 67-63 on March 4, but Clemson had the ball down three points with a chance to tie on its last possession.
Thursday’s first half was a bit more free-flowing — but Clemson didn’t flinch.
Starting forward RJ Godfrey (season-high 22 points in his first game against UNC) provided scoring and toughness in the post, and Buckner (seven points) was a plus. The Tigers ended the first half on an 8-2 run featuring big 3-pointers from Davidson and Jestin Porter after UNC cut its deficit to 31-29.
Clemson led UNC 39-31 at halftime and shot well in the opening frame for the second ACC Tournament game in a row.
UNC coach Hubert Davis’ halftime adjustments didn’t move the needle for the Heels, as Clemson extended its lead to a game-high 18 points (61-43) with 11:36 left.
From there, the Tigers never got too high or too low. Any time UNC’s star big man Henri Veesaar or nifty guard Seth Trimble made a play, a Clemson player responded. Clemson led by 13 points (73-60) with 3:23 to go in Charlotte.
“I felt like their physicality took us out of our offense,” Davis said of Clemson.
But that’s when Veesaar (career-high 28 points and 17 rebounds) and UNC kicked things into high gear. North Carolina made five straight shots and cut Clemson’s lead to a single possession multiple times in the final minute.
Hunter made two clutch free throws to extend Clemson’s lead to 78-73 with 20 seconds left after a Trimble layup, and another two free throws to put the Tigers up 80-76 with 11 seconds left after a Veesaar 3-pointer.
UNC guard Derek Dixon’s tough, fading three on the next possession cut Clemson’s lead to 80-79 with 2.7 seconds left and set the stage for Davidson’s well executed missed free throw and a signature win for the Tigers.
“It gets scary there when they bank one in on you there at the end,” Brownell said. “But I thought our guys were really good. ... They pressed us and were aggressive in it for the last two minutes of the game, and our guys got it up the floor. We broke it, got fouled, made big free throws.”
Next up is Duke, which beat Clemson 67-54 on Feb. 14 in Durham. The Blue Devils are 30-2 and feature likely national player and freshman of the year Cam Boozer.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to play tomorrow,” Brownell said.
Clemson vs. Duke: ACC Tournament semifinal
Who: Clemson (24-9) vs. Duke (30-2)
When: 9:30 p.m. Friday
Where: Spectrum Center in Charlotte
TV: ESPN2
This story was originally published March 12, 2026 at 11:58 PM.
