On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Littlejohn Coliseum had a great turnout to support Clemson in its game against the Loyola Greyhounds.

Coming off a win against Bellarmine last Friday, the Tigers were looking to continue their streak of being undefeated at home this season and did just that with a 72-41 victory over Loyola.

Clemson (4-1) started out fast and had a substantial lead within the first 10 minutes of the half. Loyola had six turnovers in the first nine minutes of the game, which doubled by the end of the half (12). The Tigers’ defense was able to keep the Greyhounds to under 20 points in the first half (14), and had a comfortable 29-point lead going into the locker room.

Graduate student Hunter Tyson led the way with 14 points in the first half alone and finished with that team-high total for the game. Not far behind him was senior guard Alex Hemenway, who was a pefect 5-for-5 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range, and finished with 13 points. The Tigers’ 43 points by halftime was the most they’ve scored in a half so far this season.

“We’ve been working hard in practice, defensively, offensively,” Hemenway said after the game. “The offense has been pretty good the last few games, but just cleaning up a lot of things on the defensive end.”

Chase Hunter was 4-of-6 from the floor and racked up 10 total points, including six after halftime.

The Tigers started slower in the second half and gave up 14 points in the first seven minutes, and only forced six turnovers in the second half. On the offensive side, the Tigers turned the ball over 15 times in the game.

Brevin Galloway led the team with three assists at the half, and ended the game with six points and was 2-of-4 from the floor. Despite the slow start, the Tigers were able to extend their 29-point lead at halftime to 31 with under 10 minutes to go in the game. 

With the Tigers having a cozy lead, a lot of other players were able to get some minutes on the floor, including true freshman RJ Godfrey who recorded his first career points and finished with seven to go along with two rebounds, one assist and one steal.

“It felt great,” Godfrey said after the game. “We practice together every day, fight against the starters every day, so it felt kind of common but it was real fun.”

Also on that list was freshman forward Chauncey Wiggins, who also saw the court and scored his career high as a Tiger with seven points as well. 

Head coach Brad Brownell was pleased with the performance from the new faces. Although the performance was far from perfect, he is excited to see them progress throughout this season and sees a lot of potential in them.

“They brought good energy,” Brownell said. “They are big strong kids, they’re athletic, they’re long and I thought they gave us really good juice. It was one of their better games in terms of productivity, and getting some consecutive defensive stops.”

The Tigers defeated the Greyhounds by 31 points, which is the most they have defeated an opponent by so far this year. 

Clemson travels to Florida this weekend to compete in the 2022 Emerald Coast Classic. The team’s first matchup is against Iowa this Friday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.