Clemson turns up the defense in second half to down Eastern Kentucky

On Tuesday night, for the first time this season, the Clemson basketball team was pushed a bit. Fortunately, when it was time to put the game against Eastern Kentucky away, the Tigers were the team that delivered the knockout blow thanks to their defense.

At the 12:50 mark of the second half, the Colonels held a 54-50 lead over the Tigers. But that's when head coach Brad Brownell saw his team clamp down on the defensive end of the court.

Over the next 11 minutes of the game, Clemson would allow EKU to hit just one basket as part of a 21-2 run. During that time, the Tigers would force eight turnovers.

In the end, the final score of 75-62 was not indicative of how close this game was for 30 of the 40 minutes played. So let's go inside the box score for some thoughts on what took place inside Littlejohn Coliseum as Clemson moved to 3-0 on the season.

Clemson's Jaeden Zackery slows down EKU's star guard

For the game, EKU's best player, Devontae Blanton, posted 23 points and 6 rebounds to keep his team in contention. However, in the game-deciding 21-2 run, Clemson point guard Jaeden Zackery took over the primary chore of guarding Blanton and it made all the difference.

During the 11 minutes of the huge Clemson run, Blanton got only one shot attempt off and scored only two points. What's more, he committed two turnovers, part of 15 that his team would commit on the evening.

Plenty has been made of Zackery's ability to score, which was a huge reason he's a Tiger this year, especially considering that he averaged 20 points per game against Clemson last season for Boston College. However, it may be his defense that is the most important element he brings to the table this season.

Tuesday, Zackery scored only 6 points in 39 minutes of action. He also handed out only four assists, a modest total.

However, his defense was what sparked Clemson's game-winning run. He had two steals on the night and he helped shut down the player who led the Colonels in scoring. That's a role he'll likely be asked to play quite often against elite guards in the ACC.

Clemson big man has offensive explosion

Cincinnati transfer Viktor Lakhin has settled in nicely as Clemson's starting center through three games. On Tuesday night, he had his best showing yet for the Tigers.

Leading the way offensively with 19 points (tied with Chase Hunter for the team lead), the 6-foot-11 center was 8-13 from the floor in 29 minutes played. It was a season-high in minutes played for Lakhin who has previously not played over 20 minutes in a game.

Lakhin was also a presence on defense. He pulled down 12 rebounds and he blocked three shots as he dominated in the paint.

This was the 11th double-double of the big man's college career. Hopefully, it is a sign of what's to come for the remainder of the season as Clemson needs Lakhin to be a consistent performer down low.

Clemson struggles from 3-point range for the first time this season

One reason that Clemson allowed EKU to hang around for so long was that the Tigers were off from 3-point range for the first time this season. Hitting just 7 of 25 (28.0%) shots from beyond the arc, the Tigers were not able to put any space between themselves and their opponent until the game-deciding run.

Entering the game, the Tigers ranked 6th nationally in 3-point percentage. Hitting at 47.9% as a team over the first two games of the season, the Tigers had been lethal from deep.

However, in game three, the shots from downtown didn't fall very often. In fact, Hunter and Del Jones were the only players on the team to hit multiple shots from 3-point range and Jones was just 2-6 from deep.

Even in the 21-2 second-half run, Clemson was just 2-6 from 3-point land. Still, the Tigers were able to put the game away even when the deep ball wasn't falling. Maybe that's a good thing as it forced the Tigers to grind out a win the old-fashioned way, which is how they will likely have to win close games against elite teams later in the season.

Clemson has huge edge at the free-throw line

The Tigers had struggled in the first two games when it came to defending without fouling. In fact, they averaged 18 fouls per game to start the season.

Against Eastern Kentucky, though, Clemson was whistled for only 10 fouls. As a result, the Colonels were only 4-5 at the free-throw line.

Meanwhile, Clemson got the the line 19 times. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Tigers made only 12 of their free-throw attempts. That's just a 63.2% success rate.

Clemson entered the game just 283rd nationally in free-throw percentage at 63.4% as a team. That number is not going to improve after Tuesday night and that's an area where the Tigers have to be better as the season progresses.