CLEMSON — Clemson clinched a top four seed in next month’s ACC Tournament thanks to an 83-68 victory over Notre Dame Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum.

With the win, the 13th-ranked Tigers are guaranteed a double bye in the conference tournament and will play in the ACC Quarterfinals on March 13 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

“It is awesome. We are one step closer to our goal,” Clemson forward Ian Schieffelin said. “We are just putting ourselves in position to get our ultimate goal.”

Schieffelin scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Tigers, as he connected on 9 of 11 from the floor, including 2-for-2 from behind the arc.

Clemson (23-5, 15-2 ACC) also got 18 points, five rebounds and five assists from center Viktor Lakhin, 14 points off the bench from guard Jake Heidbreder and 11 points from Jaeden Zackery.

The Irish (12-16, 6-11 ACC) were led by Markus Burton’s 30 points.

It was over when

At one point in the first half, Clemson missed 12 straight shots and went nearly six minutes without a field goal. That is when Schieffelin took over.

The power forward scored 10 straight points for the Tigers after that, as Clemson went from trailing by a point, 22-21, with 6:38 to play in the first half to leading 41-31 at the break.

Schieffelin scored 16 points in the first half.

“Don’t pass up good looks, just shooting it when I get the ball and just kind of picking it up where it is needed,” Schieffelin said about his thought process during that final stretch of the first half. “That has kind of been my role all year. Doing the dirty work and finding a way to win.”

1,000th point

Schieffelin not only had a career night against the Irish, but the Clemson forward also scored his 1,000th career-point which came with a jump hook with 15:22 to play in the game. It gave the Tigers a 49-37 lead at the time.

Just missed another double-double

Schieffelin fell one rebound short of a double-double. He has 10 this season. He finished the night with 24 points and nine rebounds. He has 13 double-doubles for his career.

The senior forward also had three assists.

“Ian always comes out giving full energy,” Heidbreder said. “That is kind of what he is known for. He sets the tone for our team. If we are in a scoring drought, like we were, he just gets the offensive rebounds, the and-ones and sets the tone for the whole team.”

Injuries

Clemson reserve center Christian Reeves missed his second straight game with an ankle injury. He suffered the injury last Friday during shoot around prior to Saturday’s win at SMU.

Head coach Brad Brownell said starting guard and leading scorer Chase Hunter is dealing with a calf strain he suffered in practice last week. He did play against Notre Dame, but he was just 2 of 6 from the field and scored just eight points.

Up Next

Clemson will hit the road and play at Virginia at noon, Saturday, on ESPN 2.