Chase Hunter did not have the best game of his career Saturday, but when his team needed him the most, he came through in the clutch.

With 42 seconds to play against Miami, Hunter nailed a jumper to put the Tigers up eight points, while securing a 65-55 victory over the Hurricanes at Watsco Center in Miami.

Though he was 7 of 19 from the field, Hunter finished the day just 1 of 7 from behind the three-point line.

Hunter led all scorers with 18 points. Forward Ian Schieffelin produced another double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Victor Lakhin dropped in 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and had six rebounds.

Clemson (9-1, 1-0 ACC) outscored the Hurricanes 16-7 down the stretch. The Tigers owned just a 49-48 lead with 5:09 to play.

The Tigers led 25-24 at the break, but wasted an 11-point lead.

After both teams started the game without a field goal for nearly four minutes, Schieffelin drained a three-pointer from the top of the key. Clemson then opened up a 9-1 lead and extended it to 14-3 with a Schieffelin jumper with 11:53 to play in the half.

However, the Hurricanes rallied and went on a 15-4 run to tie the game at 18 with 6:27 to go.

Miami (3-6, 0-1 ACC) was 1-for-11 from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes and were just 11 of 27 from the field overall. Clemson was not much better and was just 10-for-31 from the field.

Most of the second half was back-and-forth game.

Play of the Game

Though he did not play well, Hunter drove the baseline late in the first half and made a reverse layup that looked reminiscent of  one of Michael Jordan’s famous plays in Chicago.

Hunter’s layup gave the Tigers a 20-18 lead with 5:16 to go in the first half.

It was over when

Hunter drained a dumper with 42 seconds to play that gave the Tigers a 61-53 lead.

Injuries

Clemson’s Ace Buckner is out with an upper body injury.

Up next

Clemson will get the next week off before hosting Memphis next Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 11 a.m.

–photo by Sam Navarro-Imagn Images