Clemson holds off No. 19 North Carolina with 80-79 win, advances to play No. 1 Duke
Clemson lost a double bye in Chapel Hill but gained one in Charlotte.
As in, saying bye-bye to No. 19 North Carolina and all that baby blue in the ACC Tournament on Thursday night.
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This one produced gallons of sweat in the final minutes, as the Tar Heels couldn’t miss from long range in trimming an 18-point deficit to just one.
But a long desperation heave by North Carolina missed after Nick Davidson missed two free throws with 2.4 seconds left, and the Tigers moved on with an 80-79 victory that produced a massive fist pump by Brad Brownell.
After avenging a regular-season loss to Wake Forest on Wednesday night, the fifth-seeded Tigers did the same over the fourth-seeded Tar Heels in the quarterfinals.
All was well that ended well without Carter Welling, as Clemson overcame the loss of its vital post player after he suffered a torn ACL late in the first half against the Demon Deacons. The Tigers move on to a semifinal matchup against No. 1 Duke, which edged Florida State by a point earlier Thursday evening.
North Carolina amassed a 21-7 run over the final 3:30, draining five 3-pointers over that stretch and causing Clemson big problems with its full-court pressure.
But before Davidson missed those two free throws with less than three seconds left, Clemson had hit 11 of 13 free throws in the second half — including 4-of-4 by Dillon Hunter in the final 20 seconds. And Clemson finished 17-of-23 from the line, while North Carolina was 10-of-17.
Nine days earlier, Clemson had a chance at a double bye in the tournament with a win in Chapel Hill. The Tigers led by five in the second half but couldn’t close the deal, and the Tar Heels won 67-63 thanks largely to hot shooting from long range.
This time it was Clemson’s turn to hit big 3-pointers as it took a nine-point lead into halftime and stretched it to 18 in the second half. Clemson went 9-of-19 from long range, including 4-of-4 from Davidson.
Davidson’s 17 points led six Clemson players in double figures, including 14 from Hunter and 13 for RJ Godfrey.
Clemson’s bench outscored North Carolina’s 29-5.
Henri Veesaar totaled 28 points for the Tar Heels. North Carolina was 11-for-30 from 3, but six of those came in the final 2:28.
North Carolina’s Luka Bogavac couldn’t miss against the Tigers in Chapel Hill, going 6-of-10 on 3-pointers. He couldn’t buy a basket in Charlotte, even missing a layup late. He finished with five points on 1-of-6 shooting and missed three of four from 3.
Clemson improved to 24-9, while North Carolina dropped to 24-8.
Most of the first half was tight, with North Carolina leading by as much as six in the first 10 minutes. But things began to change halfway through when Clemson began to set its defense and bother the Tar Heels.
The Tigers went on a 12-1 run to go up 31-22, punctuated by a pull-up jumper by Hunter with less than five minutes remaining. Five different Clemson players scored on the run.
UNC quickly responded and pulled to within 31-29, but Brownell called a timeout to settle his team with 1:49 left and it worked. Davidson hit a 3-pointer a few seconds later to start an 8-2 run to close the half, and Clemson entered the locker room up 39-31.
The Tar Heels missed nine of 12 3-pointers before halftime while committing six turnovers. Clemson shot 5-of-11 from long range in the first half, led by a combined 4-of-5 from Jestin Porter and Davidson.
Clemson pushed the lead to 12 in the first five minutes of the second half before UNC trimmed it to eight and got the Tar Heel fans back into it.
But with the shot clock close to expiring, Butta Johnson hit a dagger of a step-back 3 over Jarin Stevenson with 14:34 left. Two minutes later Johnson drained another 3, this one in transition, to put Clemson up 55-41.
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Davidson hit a 3 with 5:07 left to put the Tigers up 15. Soon thereafter, North Carolina’s comeback began and Clemson had enough to hold on.
Just enough.
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But enough to say bye-bye to the Tar Heels.
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