The hostile environment did not phase the Clemson Tigers Tuesday night, as they traveled down to a rowdy Coleman Coliseum and took down No. 23 Alabama. 85-77, in the ACC/SEC Challenge.

It was a gritty performance from Clemson to remain undefeated, refusing to go down in the face of as tough a crowd the Tigers will see in 2023-’24. The victory snapped the Crimson Tide’s 19-game home winning streak, which featured an average margin of victory of 26 points.

PJ Hall led Clemson with 21 points, while Joe Girard’s 16 and Chase Hunter’s 15 secured the victory. Ian Schieffelin’s efforts were massive, leading the game with 14 rebounds, while scoring nine points.

Mark Sears led the way for Alabama with 22 points, just over his season average of 20.3.

“That was hard work, boys. That was hard work today. I am not going to lie to you,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said to the Clemson Tigers Network after the game. “We coached on every possession. What a grind.

“Man, I am proud of our team. What a terrific win. Different guys throughout the game. Chase had an awful game for a while and then wow. Big shots at the end.”

The win also marked the second time in program history Clemson beat a non-conference ranked opponent on the road. The only other time it happened came in 2016 at South Carolina.

“I thought we just gutted it out,” Brownell said. “We did not play as well offensively. Obviously, some of that was Chase was a little amped up and we just had some uncharacteristic bad plays.

“When we settled into the game in the middle of the first half and started doing what we wanted to do, which was get the ball inside and try to punch them in the mouth. I thought we executed that really well.”

Brownell’s defense was smothering in the first half, going to a large lineup with one true guard on the floor. Alabama scored 32 points before the break, a season-low that was only comparable to 33 points at half against Ohio State, which is their only other loss.

The Crimson Tide (4-2) shot 27.8 percent from the field in the first half, but went 8-of-11 from the free throw line to keep it close. Clemson’s foul discrepancy of 22-14 clearly frustrated Brownell, who was often animated on the sideline. That didn’t change the result, as shot-making became the difference for the Tigers.

Clemson (6-0) went over six minutes without a field goal before halftime but Girard made a baseline jumper to snap the streak. That sparked three-straight makes, sending the Tigers to the half with a 33-32 lead.

Foul trouble plagued Clemson with three fouls for both Hall and RJ Godfrey early in the second half. That sparked the Alabama offense, reaching out to a seven-point lead before the Tigers’ leading scorer returned to the floor with seven straight points to tie the game at 53-53.

Only fitting, Godfrey followed with an and-one to spark a massive run. Girard caught fire, delivering back-to-back three’s that extended Clemson’s lead to six with 10:09 left in the game.

Clemson was on fire in the second half. The Tigers connected on 8 of 11 shots (72.7 percent) from behind the arc and made 60 percent of their shots overall (18-30) from the field.

Both teams exchanged multiple blows from behind the arc down the stretch, but the Tigers stunned the Crimson Tide with a flurry of three-pointers from Girard and Hunter and carried that to the final buzzer.

“We beat a good team today. We beat them on their court. This was a good win,” Brownell said.

Clemson goes on a five-day break before traveling for an early ACC matchup with Pittsburgh on the road. The Tigers and Panthers tip off Saturday at 2 p.m., and the game will be televised on the ACC Network.

–Photo courtesy of Gary Cosby/USA Today