Brad Brownell’s “cobbled together” lineup finally made it onto the ACC record books.
With a gritty 66-64 victory over Stanford on Wednesday evening, the Clemson Tigers (19-4, 9-1 ACC) have now won 13 straight road games dating back to last season. That milestone ties the legendary 1972-74 NC State teams for the third-longest road winning streak in ACC history. It wasn't easy.
For the fifth time this season, the Tigers were forced to erase a halftime deficit, and this proved once more that this group has “never-say-die” DNA that has the Tigers nearly at the top of the conference standings.
The starters usually make news, but this win was a rare occasion.
The Tigers’ bench made up a mind-boggling 43 of the team's 66 points. Chase Thompson (MN Mr. Basketball): Troy’s true freshman played up to the “X-factor” hype, and made a career-high of 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in 18 minutes. Ace Buckner: The son of Greg Buckner picked up his stellar freshman season, scoring 11 points and exuding ice-cold poise. With the game tied and three seconds remaining, Buckner hit two clutch free throws to seal the win. Nick Davidson: the veteran leader from Mission Viejo started with 16 points and 7 rebounds — his 11th double-digit performance of the season.
The Tigers used a 23-11 run in the second half to gain some of the upper hand, driven by top-tier play from outside the arc. Category Performance Impact Three-Point % 41.2% 5th game over 40% (Clemson is 5-0 in those games). Field Goal % 45.7% Good production with 6 ties and 8 lead changes. Bench Points 43 7th time the bench has been over 40 for the season Road Streak 13 Games Tied for 3rd longest in ACC history.
The Tigers don’t have time or space to celebrate their historic moment. They remain on the West Coast to face the California Golden Bears on Saturday.