Clemson Men’s Basketball beats Irish and earns 3-seed in ACC Tourney

Despite having a record-setting season, Clemson Men’s Basketball needed to win most of their remaining games to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

The last task of the regular season was a home contest against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Tigers rose to the challenge.

Clemson defeated Notre Dame 87-64 Saturday night to finish at 22-9 overall and 14-6 in the ACC.

All five starters for the Tigers finished with double-digit points, in stark contrast to the final road game against the Virginia Cavaliers when only two players scored double-digits.

Hunter Tyson and Ian Schieffelin led the way with 16 points each, followed by PJ Hall with 15, Chase Hunter with 14, and Brevin Galloway with 13.

Tyson snagged 13 rebounds to register a double-double. Clemson shot 44.8% from 3-point range and matched Notre Dame with 8 offensive rebounds.

Senior guard Cormac Ryan led the Irish with 19 points. Senior forward Nate Laszewski contributed 12 points and 9 rebounds.

The victory brings Clemson into a tie with Duke and Pittsburgh for third place in the ACC. By virtue of the Tigers’ regular-season victories over the Blue Devils and the Panthers, Clemson will be the 3-seed in the ACC Tournament.

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Being the 3-seed in the ACC Tournament means Clemson Men’s Basketball will be playing the late games in Greensboro

The 3-seed means Clemson has earned the double-bye and will advance directly to the quarterfinals, which will begin Thursday, March 9th.

The Miami Hurricanes captured the 1-seed, followed by Virginia as the 2-seed. Duke won the tiebreaker with Pitt to earn the final double-bye spot with the 4-seed.

Clemson’s draw puts the opening-round matchup between Notre Dame and the Virginia Tech Hokies into the Tigers’ part of the bracket. The winner between the Irish and the Hokies will play the NC State Wolfpack in the second round, and the winner of that game will face Clemson in the quarterfinals.

Being the 3-seed unfortunately means Clemson will once again be playing late in the evening. Their quarterfinal matchup is scheduled to begin at 9:30 PM on Thursday. If they advance, they will play in the 9:30 PM semifinal on Friday.