In Saturday's game against Pitt, Clemson jumped to a commanding lead in the first half thanks to some outstanding three-point shooting. The Tigers went 10/16 from beyond the arc, with Chase and Dillon Hunter leading the way, knocking down 6/7. The three-point shot has been an instrumental part of Clemson's offense, especially with Chase, but one transfer is starting to come alive for the Tigers, too.
While the Hunter brothers performed well against Pitt, Boston College transfer Jaeden Zackery has finally emerged. In the last three games, Zackery has played out of his mind. He went 8/14 from the three-point line, making at least two in each contest. Before Clemson's game against Florida State, Zackery averaged 29.4 percent at the line, but now he's raised it to 35.4, knocking tres at a 57.1 percent clip in the last three games.
It's good to see he's returning to form since leaving Boston. As an Eagle, he was a 40 percent-plus shooter in his freshman and junior seasons. That's what head coach Brad Brownell hoped to get when he transferred, so in this regard, his slow start has been a slight disappointment. But to be honest, Zackery's three-point renaissance couldn't have come at a better time.
Just an absolute menace. @jaedenzackery pic.twitter.com/JRIgLjJwIX
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) January 16, 2025
With 12 regular season games left, the Tigers can produce a massive run before the end of the season. Currently, Clemson has three top-6 ACC teams left on its schedule. SMU and UNC are 5-2 in league play, with North Carolina claiming the worst loss on Saturday in its buzzer-beater game against Stanford.
Then there's No. 3 Duke. The matchup between heavyweights is in Littlejohn Coliseum, so Clemson has the homecourt advantage, but it'll need an A-plus performance from everyone on the roster to keep up with the Blue Devils. And with Zackery's three-point shooting added, the Tigers could have a chance to win.
One might think his other stats have tanked to compensate for his recovered three-point shot, but that's far from the truth. Zackery has excelled in other areas of the game, too. His rebounds rose from 2.8 per game to 3.1 after averaging 4.6 in the last three games. And obviously, the same goes for his points per game. It rose from 9.6 to 10.8 after scoring 17.3 in the same three-game period.
The only part of his game that dipped was his assists. Before the three-game stretch, Zackery averaged 3.2 but fell slightly to 3.1. He only averaged 2.3 assists against FSU, Georgia Tech, and Pitt, but that's mainly due to his season-high scoring performance against the Yellow Jackets. Instead of distributing the ball, Zackery was draining the shots.
Clemson has another true weapon on its starting rotation, along with Chase Hunter and Ian Scheiffelin. The trio fits well together. When one is having an off night, the others take over. For example, Schieffelin has dealt with a nagging injury and played like it against Florida State. And while 14 points is a good total, by Hunter's standards, it falls shy of the mark. So when he only scored that against Georgia Tech, Zackery made up the difference with his 21-point performance.
If they continue to play like they have in the last three-game stretch, Clemson will be one of the most dangerous teams in the country come March.