By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — The Clemson Tigers simply just ran out of gas in their 66-54 loss to eighth-ranked Arizona.

After Milton Jennings drained a three-pointer with 8:36 to play in the game, Clemson went cold, going seven minutes and 42 seconds without a field goal. In the meantime, the Wildcats got hot as Kevin Parrom, Mark Lyons and guard Nick Johnson led a 20-2 run to put the game away.

Jennings ended the cold streak by making a three-pointer in the final minute, but by then, all the damage was done.

“I was disappointed with the outcome after we fought so hard to get the lead in the second half,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “We didn’t play well early. I don’t know if it was the moment or the game. I don’t know if it was taking a while for our guys to adjust to it all.

“But, when we finally got adjusted and got our legs under us I thought we played some really good basketball for a good portion. Then we had some really poor plays. Offensive turnovers and a bunch of steals for them are things you cannot do against a team of this talent level.”

Trailing 22-8 following Lyons slam with 8:53 to play in the first half, the Tigers (5-3) went on a 16-6 run to close the half, and then opened the second by outscoring Arizona 18-8. The 34-14 run between the two halves allowed Clemson to take a 42-36 lead, bringing the 8,509 fans in Littlejohn Coliseum to their feet.

“They made a great run at us,” Arizona head coach Sean Miller said. “I think at one point, they were on a 34-14 run. If someone makes a 34-14 run on you and you’re on the road, that’s usually curtains.”

But instead the curtains closed on Clemson. Following a timeout after Rod Hall hit a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give the Tigers’ their six-point lead, the Wildcats quickly tied the game with a couple of hard fought possessions.

Jennings, who led Clemson with 15 points, made the three that gave the Tigers a brief a three-point advantage, but then Arizona took over.

“We had a ton of resolve,” Miller said. “We had some tough plays to stay in the game and then we just seemed to get the momentum back that we had early in the game.”

Lyons led all scorers with 20 points and four assists, while Johnson added 13 points and had five steals.

It was a disappointing defeat for Clemson after the Tigers battled back from a rough start to gain control of the game, only to run out of gas in the end. During the critical portion of the second half in which Clemson got outscored 20-2, the Tigers were 2 of 6 from the foul line and went seven minutes and 42 seconds without a field goal.

“They just kind of took control of the game,” said Adonis Filer, who scored 10 points off the bench for Clemson. “Them being a top 10 team, you kind of expect that from them. We just have to be able to do better at the end of the game and close them.”

Arizona (7-0) finished the game making 17 of 20 free throws, while the Tigers were 9 of 17. The Wildcats also had 20 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Clemson by 11 (44-33) overall.

“We wanted to limit their threes and keep them off the line, and we wanted to do our best on the boards,” Brownell said. “We didn’t do our best on the boards. There were a lot of loose balls and extra possessions that hurt us.”

And in the end, Clemson just simply ran out of gas.