CLEMSON – After consecutive blowout wins to begin the season, the Clemson Basketball team was tested by Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday night. The Tigers were still able to come away with a hard-fought 75-62 win over the Colonels inside Littlejohn Coliseum.

Trailing by four with a little more than 12 minutes to play, Brad Brownell’s team responded by going on a 16-6 run to take control of what had been a tightly contested game to that point.

“Very competitive game, really proud of the way our guys finished,” Brownell said after the victory. “Just give a lot of credit to our guys. We got down 54-50 and the group that we put in, I think we got 12 straight stops. That was the difference in the game.”

Viktor Lakhin helped pace the Tigers, registering his first double-double in a Clemson uniform. The transfer big man finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Chase Hunter continued his torrid start with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. He was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Despite early foul trouble, Ian Schieffelin added 13 point and 9 boards to give Clemson three players to hit the double digit mark in scoring. Schieffelin just missed his second double-double of the young season.

On the other end, the Tigers had no answer for Colonels’ wing Devontae Blanton for much of the night. Jaeden Zackery guarded the dynamic scorer for much of the second half and really started to clamp him down late. Blanton still led all scorers with 23 points on 10-for-15 shooting. 

The Tigers led by as many as 10 points about midway through the first half, but a 12-0 run by the Colonels would give Eastern Kentucky a 25-23 lead with just under nine to go in the first half. The Tigers would go almost four minutes without a basket.

Clemson would quickly tie it back up on a Lakhin putback and then retake the lead as Jake Heidbreder would drill a 3-pointer the next time down the floor to put Clemson back up 28-25. A 3-pointer by Chauncey Wiggins as time expired would send the Tigers into the locker room with a 42-39 lead. It was Wiggins first bucket of the game after he missed on his first five attempts.

“I thought we started well, did some good things early,” Brownell added. “Then kind of relaxed and Eastern Kentucky did a nice job of settling into the game. You can tell they have a great program. Their guys are used to winning. A.W. (Hamilton) does a great job with them and they just kind of whittled their way back into the game. We did not start the second half well. But frankly, we finished it.”

Turning Point

With just over 12 minutes left and Clemson down 54-50, Dell Jones hit a 3-pointer that would pull the Tigers to within a point. He would then steal the inbounds pass and let off another 3-ball that just missed. Schieffelin was there for the stick-back that put the Tigers back up by a point at 55-54. They would never trail again.

Stat of Game

Clemson shot just 10-of-17 from the free throw line. Lakhin was just 3-of-6, while Schieffelin was 3-of-5.

Injury Report

Dillon Hunter was listed as doubtful (lower body) and did not play. Ace Buckner also remained out with an “upper body injury. Dallas Thomas is redshirting this season.

Brownell said after the game that Hunter was dealing with a cut on his head that ended up becoming infected and that he is “day-to-day.”

Up Next

The Tigers will hit the road for the first time this season as Clemson travels to Boise State on Sunday to take on the Broncos. Tipoff is set for 1:30pm and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

A limited number of signed replica road signs from Cade Klubnik are available!  Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!