Clemson got its first ever true-road-win over a ranked opponent on Wednesday with a 62-60 victory over No. 20 South Carolina at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. It was just the Tigers’ second win over a ranked South Carolina team and the first in Columbia.

Carolina had won eight of its previous nine games against Clemson when it came into a game ranked.

Tigers’ guard Avery Holmes, who graduated just last Thursday, made 3-of-4 free throws down the stretch to get the victory. It was Clemson’s seventh straight win.

The Tigers found themselves trailing by three points, 58-55, with 1:41 to play, but Jaron Blossomgame tipped in a missed Shelton Mitchell layup. Then, after a Gamecock miss, sophomore Marcquise Reed drove the lane and drew a foul, which he followed by making both free throws to give Clemson the lead for good.

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell surprised the Gamecocks on their ensuing possession when he used a 2-3 zone for the only time in the game. It surprised USC and forced them to have to think about how to attack it, which ended up being missed three-pointers by McKie and Gravett.

“Sometimes it works. This time it looks like a great move. Sometimes you are lucky,” Brownell said after the game on the Clemson Sports Radio Network. “The possession before, they just isolated (P.J.) Dozier at the free throw line like we do for Jaron and that is such a tough cover.

“The way the game was being called, I was afraid they were going to throw it to him and he was going to take two bounces and we were going to watch him take two free throws to take the lead. If anything, we were going to give up a made three to give the lead up. I was not going to let them get a free throw.”

After the USC miss, Holmes made two free throws to extend the lead to 61-58 with 19 seconds to play.

Carolina had a chance to win the game at the end, but Dozier’s three-point attempt with just seconds to play bounced off the iron and Clemson’s Donte Granthan chased down the rebound and threw the ball in the air to end the game.

“They are just a really hard team to play against,” Brownell said. “You are never going to look good when you play them. You just have to out-will them, and that is hard to do. That’s why I am so proud of our guys. This was bumper cars for a long time and for our guys to find a way to win, we showed great grit and toughness tonight.”

Blossomgame led the Tigers (9-2) with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Reed finished with 14 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line. Elijah Thomas added 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Dozier led the Gamecocks (9-2) with 26 points and eight rebounds. The sophomore was 10 of 22 from the field.

Clemson will host UNC-Wilmington at 7 p.m. next Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum.

–Photo Credit: Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports