Clemson Men’s Basketball: Tigers dominate Wake in second half, win 77-57

Trailing by 7 at the half and shooting miserably from three-point range, Clemson Men’s Basketball smashed Wake Forest in the second half on their way to a 77-57 win in the 2022-2023 ACC opener at Littlejohn Coliseum Friday night.

Down 33-26 at the half, the Tigers shot only 34.8% from the field, including 1 for 10 from three-point range in the first stanza.

The one thing that kept Clemson in striking distance was their free throw shooting, as the Tigers were 9 of 10 from the stripe while the Deacons only had 1 attempt from the line.

Everything changed after the break as the Tigers went 14-20 from the field, including 8 of 12 from three, led by a 4 of 4 effort on deep balls by Alex Hemenway.  The Tigers were 15 of 15 from the line in the second half, finishing 24 of 25 on free throws.

Clemson outscored Wake 51-24 in the second half in cruising to a 1-0 ACC mark and a 7-2 overall record.

The Tigers shot 51.2% from the field and 40.8% from three, continuing an early season trend of shooting well.

Clemson committed 19 turnovers on the game, but dominated Wake Forest on the boards to the tune of 38-24 and the Tigers were by far the more physical and aggressive team.

P.J. Hall led Clemson with 21 points and 8 rebounds in 22 minutes, while Hunter Tyson had 15 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes.

Chase Hunter struggled for the second consecutive game.  He scored 11 on 3 of 7 shooting, but committed 7 turnovers, was 0-4 from deep and appeared frustrated at times.

All 5 Clemson Men’s Basketball starters scored in double figures in the win over Wake Forest

Brevin Galloway scored 14 and Hemenway finished with 12 as all 5 Tiger starters reached double figures on the evening.

The bench that poured in 24 points against Penn State on Tuesday, combined for only 4 points all from the line, but Ian Schieffelin did contribute 6 rebounds and 3 assists in 15 minutes and Josh Beadle continued to look more and more comfortable in his 20 minutes on the floor.

Clemson is off until Wednesday, when they host Towson at 9 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum.