CLEMSON — It took a four-game losing streak and some horrendous shooting performances over the last two weeks, but it appears Clemson has finally punched its ticket to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“It was a must-win game for us for sure,” Clemson forward R.J. Godfrey said. “Basketball is a long season. You are going to have some adversity. (Brad) Brownell was like, ‘Everything has been sunshine and rainbows around here.’
“It is just part of it. It is part of the game. I am glad we bounced back and responded today.”
The Tigers did it on Saturday with some nice sharp shooting from guard Jestin Porter, who led the team with 16 points. Porter was 4-for-8 from behind the arc, including two big baskets in the second half in Clemson’s 80-75 victory over No. 24 Louisville Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The win over the Cardinals (20-9, 9-7 ACC) was another Quad 1 win for the Tigers, their fourth, which likely is enough to get them in the Big Dance with two regular season games and the ACC Tournament to go.
“We are not trying to look at it like that,” Porter said. “We are just trying to win the next few games we have left.”
Besides Porter’s 16 points, the Tigers also got 13 points and 7 rebounds from Godfrey. Overall, Clemson had nine players score at least four points, while five scored at least seven points, not counting Porter and Godfrey. Ace Buckner scored 11 points off the bench.
The Tigers (21-8, 11-5 ACC) had 12 assists in the victory, while snapping their four-game losing streak.
Clemson took an 11-point lead, 60-49, with 8:40 to play when Porter took an outlet pass from Dillon Hunter and raced down the floor for a layup. However, the ensuing inbounds pass was not a good one and Louisville’s Adrian Wooley tried to safe it as it was going out of bounds. He instead threw the ball to Nick Davidson, who quickly got the ball up court to Porter, who drained the triple from the wing for the 11-point lead.
“That was momentum for us,” Porter said. “It got the crowd involved during that little stretch. We needed that for sure.”
Porter splashed down another 3-pointer with 5:43 to play to give the Tigers a 14-point lead. Buckner nailed a three of his own on their next possession, which gave them a 68-53 lead with 4:53 to go.
DAY ONE BYE
With Saturday’s win over Louisville, Clemson clinched at least a share of the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament with a chance to move up. Coupled with NC State’s overtime loss to Notre Dame, the Tigers can still get a two-day bye in the conference tournament.
Of course, they will need to win both of their final two games at North Carolina (10-5) on Tuesday and against Georgia Tech at home next Saturday. NC State is 10-6 in ACC play with two games to play.
A day one bye means the Tigers will not play in the ACC Tournament until Wednesday, March 11.
NOTHING BUT NET
Clemson currently sits No. 36 in the NET rankings. The Tigers are currently 4-5 in Quad 1 games. They are 10-7 overall in Q1 and Q2 games.
There are eight schools in the Top 40 of the NET rankings from the ACC: Duke (1), Louisville (13), Virginia (16), North Carolina (27), NC State (28), SMU (31), Miami (Fla.) (32) and Clemson (36).
HOMESTAND
The Cardinals lead the all-time series 11-7 against Clemson on the hardwood. The crazy thing is Clemson is 7-1 all-time against Louisville at Littlejohn Coliseum, while Louisville is 10-0 against the Tigers in Louisville.
UP NEXT
Clemson hits the road to take on No. 18 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., on Tuesday (7 p.m.).
