CLEMSON – Through 12 games this season, the Clemson Tigers have already had seven different leading scorers. For context, the Tigers had only five different scoring leaders across 34 games last year.

So far, veterans Dillon Hunter and R.J. Godfrey have predictably taken turns atop the scoring chart. Hunter led with 15 points against the Mercer Bears this past Saturday, while Godfrey piloted efforts against Alabama and West Virginia. Transfer guard Jestin Porter paced Clemson against BYU and Georgia, and Carter Welling led the charge at Georgetown.

On Tuesday night, however, it was redshirt freshman Ace Buckner’s night to shine. 

Buckner notched a career-high 19 points off the bench in Clemson’s 68-61 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks, finishing 7-of-12 from the field with a perfect 4-for-4 from Littlejohn Coliseum’s free throw line. 

“Happy for our team and especially Ace Buckner,” head coach Brad Brownell said after the win. “He’s been hanging in there with us and I told him earlier… ‘Hang in there. I think you’re going to have some good time here soon.’ And he’s practiced a little bit better and I felt like this would be a good game for him and he was great.”

Tuesday’s performance marked the second time Buckner has led the Tigers in scoring this season. The guard scored a team-high 18 points in the season opener against New Hampshire on Nov. 3.

Since then, Buckner’s playing time, productivity, and shooting percentages have fluctuated. Against BYU and Mercer, the guard notched only four and five minutes, failing to score in either contest. Since Nov. 17, he has made only 14 percent of shots beyond the arc.

Despite a tough stretch, Buckner stepped up against the Gamecocks (7-4), playing 30 minutes, second to only Hunter’s 33. His production was big considering the Tigers were without guards Zac Foster and Butta Johnson, who were both injured in the first half and did not return.

“I just did what my team needed from me tonight,” Buckner said after his bounce-back game. “You know, it could have been anybody else, but tonight was just my night.”

On “his night,” Clemson (9-3) needed his production as a rebounder and defender too after Foster, a six-foot-four guard, was sidelined. In response, Buckner grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and also two steals. Six of his seven rebounds came on the defensive side. 

“I just kind of have a knack to just go get the ball and, you know going to get a rebound just makes it easier to push, so I just try to do that to the best of my ability,” he said.

The son of former Clemson hoops standout Greg Buckner, Ace knocked down his first three-pointer since Dec. 3, but the majority of his production came from attacking the rim. Over 70 percent of his trips to the rim resulted in a basket or made free throws.

“He’s a strong guard. He plays with great leverage and has the ability to do those things,” Brownell said.  “Some of the way (South Carolina) plays, you’re going to be forced to drive the ball some like that, they’re staying home on a lot of three-point shots and limiting your threes. They’re challenging you to finish those tough plays and (Buckner) was good enough tonight to be able to do some of that.” 

After tough losses to ranked Alabama and BYU teams, consistency has become a major focus for the Tigers, especially Buckner.

“It feels good. I just got to keep it going though,” Buckner said of his career night against Clemson’s rival. “You know, I got to be consistent.”

This consistency will be imperative for the Tigers, as Clemson looks ahead to another tough matchup against the Cincinnati Bearcats (6-4) Sunday and a heavy-handed ACC schedule ahead.

The Tigers will face Cincinnati at Bon Secours Arena in Greenville at 3 p.m. Coverage will be shown on ESPN.