GREENVILLE, S.C. — When Clemson needed him most, Dillon Hunter was there for the Tigers.

Clemson was on the verge of blowing a more than 20-point lead for the second time in two weeks as Cincinnati overcame a 27-point first-half deficit to pull within a point three different times with less than a minute to play.

Twice in the final 10 seconds, Hunter went to the free throw line with the Tigers clinging to a one-point lead, and both times, he knocked down each attempt, securing Clemson’s 68-65 win over the Bearcats on Sunday afternoon in Bon Secours Wellness Arena.

“He is confident,” head coach Brownell said. “A part of why he ended up starting at the end of last year is that he just makes a winning play. Whatever that is. Guard somebody, make free throws at the end, make an open shot, make a good play out of a pick and roll for somebody, he is just one of those guys that has been able to do that.”

After Clemson opened the game on a 23-3 run, it appeared that the Tigers might make easy work of a Cincinnati team that came into the day ranked outside the Top 100 of the NET Rankings. However, the Bearcats went on a run of their own to close the first half and then continued it after halftime. Five minutes into the second half and Cincinnati had pulled to within nine at 42-33.

Having just experienced a similar collapse that resulted in a loss to BYU in Maddison Square Garden on December 9, Hunter and the rest of his teammates were determined not to have a similar fate on Sunday in Greenville.

“We stayed positive,” Hunter said. “We knew going into the second half, this is Division 1 basketball,” Hunter said. “We just knew as a team to stay locked in and stay focused and worry about the next play. Everything worked out.”

Hunter was one of six different Tigers to hit the double-digit mark in scoring, finishing the afternoon with 10 points. He knocked down his only three-point attempt and went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. He also pulled down seven rebounds. But he’s is expected to step up in some of the game’s biggest moments, and that is exactly what he did against the Bearcats when he drained those last four free throws in the final seven seconds.

“I am built for it,” Hunter said. “Me and my brother, we have always had this saying… ‘built for it.’ I was talking to myself, telling myself, I am knocking these down, and we are going to win the game. I didn’t have any doubt.”

Photo by Bart Boatwright