CLEMSON — Will Wade’s return to Clemson on Tuesday night was a successful one, as the former Clemson manager and assistant coach brought his NC State team into Littlejohn Coliseum and snapped the 18th-ranked Tigers’ nine-game win streak.

Led by Ven-Allen Lubin’s 22 points, the Wolfpack defeated Clemson 80-76 in overtime. The loss was Clemson’s first at Littlejohn Coliseum since losing to Georgia Tech in triple overtime last February.

The Tigers had won 14 straight games at Littlejohn Coliseum, prior to Tuesday night.

NC State (13-6, 4-2 ACC) also snapped the Tigers’ 14-game regular season win streak in ACC play, which also dated back to their Feb.4 loss to Georgia Tech.

Wade was a four-year student manager at Clemson (2002-05) and started his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2005-’06 and then served as the director of operations in 2006-07 for then head coach Oliver Purnell.

Of course, this was not the first time Wade coached against his alma mater. His old McNeese team upset the Tigers, 69-67, in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. Clemson was a No. 5 seed.

After chasing the Wolfpack for much of the night, Clemson finally tied them at 67 with 3:00 to play. Carter Welling drained two free throws to even things up. Six previous times in the second half, when they were within a basket, the Tigers failed to even things up or take the lead.

Clemson (16-4, 6-1 ACC) grabbed its first lead, 69-67, of the second half when R.J. Godfrey laid in a shot and drew a foul with 1:04 to play. The Tigers previous lead was 18-16 with 12:31 to go in the first half.

NC State’s last nine points of regulation came from the foul line, as its last field goal came with 8:16 to play on a Darrion Williams’ layup. The Wolfpack missed their last seven shots in regulation. Williams finished the game with 17 points.

Clemson had an opportunity to win the game in regulation, but Dillon Hunter’s desperation shot from near halfcourt hit hard off the backboard.

The Tigers made just two field goals in overtime, the extra frame’s first and its last, as they made a shot as time expired. Godfrey led Clemson with 16 points and 7 rebounds. He was 7 of 9 from the field. Welling added 14 points and 9 rebounds, while Ace Buckner came off the bench and had 12.

NC State used a 12-2 run in the first half to grab control of the game. The Tigers had a 6:22 stretch, where it turned the basketball over six times.

The turnovers allowed the Wolfpack to grab a 36-25 lead with 2:45 to play in the opening half. However, Clemson closed the half with an 8-2 run, including a poster dunk by Welling with 54 seconds to go.

Buckner’s triple with 28 seconds left, pulled the Tigers within five points before the break.

YOU HAVE TO MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS

It is easy to see where Clemson lost the game to NC State. It was on the foul line.

The Wolfpack connected of 22 of 25 foul shots Tuesday night, while Tigers were 15-for-24. Clemson was 3-for-6 in the overtime period, while NC State was a perfect 4-for-4.

WADE NOT THE ONLY HOMECOMING

NC State assistant coach Vernon Hamilton also returned to Littlejohn Tuesday night after spending four years at Clemson as a player and two more as a coach.

Hamilton was a four-year starter at Clemson (2004-07) and ended his career No. 1 all-time in steals average with 271 steals. That was sixth in career steals in the ACC. He is No. 9 in assists at Clemson with
403 and scored over 1,200 points in his career.

Hamilton was first team All-Defensive Team in 2006 and on the Collegeinsider.com Defensive All-American Team in 2007. He served as a graduate assistant at Clemson (2014-16) for Head
Coach Brad Brownell.

TURNOVER MACHINE

Clemson had eight first-half turnovers, which helped NC State take a 38-33 lead into halftime. The Wolfpack had a 9-4 advantage off of those eight turnovers.

The Tigers, who had 12 steals in the win over Miami last Saturday, forced just four NC State turnovers in the opening half, including just one steal.

Clemson finished the game with 13 turnovers, one off its season-high 14, which came at Pittsburgh on Jan. 31. The guards—Dillon Hunter, Ace Buckner, Butta Johnson and Jestin Porter—combined for nine of the Tigers’ 13 turnovers.

UP NEXT

Clemson will hit the road, as it travels to Atlanta to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets for a noon tip on Saturday.