Clemson’s ACC Tournament run lasted a single game as Boston College ran the Tigers out of the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., 76-55, Wednesday night.
This was a far cry from the first meeting in Littlejohn Coliseum earlier this year, but telling as the Golden Eagles played that contest with just six players due to illness. This meeting was a taste of revenge in dominant fashion.
Clemson (21-11) has now lost their first game of the ACC Tournament for the 49th time in the 71-year history of the event.
The Tigers are 23-70 all-time in the ACC Tournament. The only year they did not lose in the tournament was in 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID pandemic following a 69-64 win over Miami in their first and only game.
Clemson is the only charter member in the league to never win an ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship.
BC (19-14) got its first win over the Tigers in an ACC Tournament. The Eagles were 0-3 against Clemson prior to Wednesday night.
Claudell Harris lit up the Tigers defense with 27 points as Jaeden Zackery added 22 to bury this meeting early. A 10-4 difference in the three pointers made was salt to the wound on the stat sheet.
It was all Boston College from the start as Clemson started down 18=9 and struggled to find a rhythm early. The same could be said for the Golden Eagles, but the effort on the glass the difference,
10 offensive rebounds gave Boston College seven more shots in the first half and it led to a 40-28 halftime lead. 38.2 percent from the floor for the Golden Eagles is less than ideal, but it didn’t matter given the difference in shots.
The second half went the way of Boston College as the Tigers were lifeless, failing to threaten a comeback. It remained a double-digit lead from halftime to the final buzzer.
The two-man show of PJ Hall and Joseph Girard wasn’t enough as no other Clemson players scored over seven points. Hall led the team with 21 points, but went the entire contest with a single rebound. Girard had 13 points and a team-leading six rebounds.
As a team, the Tigers were 6-17 on layups and it was a reflection of the night that ended this ACC Tournament run after one game. Rebounds were in favor of the Golden Eagles 39-25, telling of the contest.
Following the second round loss, Clemson fell in three of its last four games and awaits its seeding on Selection Sunday. The Tigers are hovering around the No. 6 seed line, a lock to make the NCAA Tournament.