Clemson Men’s Basketball: Tigers look rock solid in win over Pitt

For the second time in a week Clemson Men’s Basketball took to an unfamiliar court as an underdog on the road and for the second straight time the Tigers came out as winners, taking down Pittsburgh by a score of 79-70 Sunday.

Joe Girard nailed three after three and totaled 25 points, while P.J. Hall collected a double-double, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds, while Ian Schieffelin dominated the boards with 17 rebounds in the win.

The silky smooth Chauncey Wiggins also reached double figures for the Tigers with 12 points in his 30 minutes on the court.

Girard was red hot from three-point land, going 6 for 9 from deep, pushing the Tigers lead to double digits in both halves with dagger after dagger.

Schieffelin dominated on the boards, particularly in the first half, when he recorded 9 rebounds in total, 6 of them on the offensive end.

Clemson did all the things I was concerned about pregame well.  Winning the rebound battle, getting second-chance points and adding ten fast break points.

The Tigers didn’t shoot as well as they did in Tuscaloosa Tuesday, but they hit 46.7% from the field, including 54.2% in the second half, along with 36.7% from three point range for the game.

It’s still fairly early in a 31 game schedule, but Clemson appears to have – dare I say it – a grit that makes them tough to beat and the sum of the whole is greater than the parts.

Make no doubt, there will be lulls and losses along the way, but this is a team that picks each other up.

For example, Chase Hunter was not great against Pitt, scoring 4 points on one of nine shooting (0 for 5 from 3), but he was picked up by Girard’s 25.

Each time the Panthers got within striking distance a different Tiger made a play, whether it was Hall making a move down low, Schieffelin grabbing a rebound or Girard drilling a three.

Schieffelin’s contribution shouldn’t be overlooked. He only scored 8, but he outplayed more ballyhooed Pittsburgh players, including Federiko Federiko, who totaled 6 points and 3 rebounds in 29 minutes.

Clemson Men’s Basketball saw a boost in the KenPom rankings

The Tigers will reap the rewards as they have moved up to No. 28 in the KenPom rankings immediately after the win and recorded another solid road win for their resume.

Clemson has won the first two of their five game gauntlet, with South Carolina (7-0, No. 54 in KenPom), TCU (7-0, No. 33) and Memphis (5-2, No. 42) waiting dead ahead.

The Tigers play the Gamecocks in Littlejohn Coliseum on the Clemson campus, TCU in Toronto and Memphis on the road.

As the saying goes this is a marathon not a sprint, and these wins will be measured against future struggles, so it’s nice to put these last two wins in the March Madness Bank.

Clemson hosts South Carolina Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum in a game that will be televised on the ACC Network.