CHARLOTTE — North Carolina’s desperation heave with time running out was way off the mark as fifth-seeded Clemson held on for an 80-79 win over fourth-seeded North Carolina in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday at the Spectrum Center.

The Tar Heels had made five straight three-pointers down the stretch that turned a comfortable Clemson lead into just a one-point advantage with 2.7 seconds left

Clemson (24-9) shot 47% from beyond the arc, with Nick Davidson, Jestin Porter and Butta Johnson each hitting on multiple shots from deep. Davidson finished a perfect 4-for-4 from long range.

Davidson had a double-double, registering 17 points while pulling down 11 rebounds. He was 5-of-6 from the floor. Dillon Hunter had 14, while RJ Godfrey added 13. Ace Buckner finished with 12, while Johnson and Porter both had 10.

With the Tigers clinging to a 73-65 lead with under two minutes left, after leading by as many as 18, and the Tar Heels with the ball, the Tigers would get a stop that included Davidson going to the line for a one-and one. He would only hit one and the Heels would drill a three on the other end, cutting the deficit to 74-68.

Davidson would again be fouled on the other end going up for a dunk and this time he would hit both free throws, making it 76-68. The Heels quickly got a three from Henri Veesaar with just over a minute left, cutting the Tigers lead to 76-71.

A three-pointer by Johnson and an old-fashioned three-point play by Godfrey gave Clemson an 18-point lead at 58-40 with under 13 minutes to go. Davidson’s third three-pointer of the game then made it 61-43.

North Carolina had cut the lead to 12 at 64-52 with seven to go. Davidson’s fourth long ball of the game pushed the lead back out to 15 at 69-54 with under five minutes left.

A three-point basket by Davidson and a driving layup by Jake Wahlin put the Tigers up 27-22 with under seven minutes to go in the first half. A jumper by Johnson pushed the lead out to seven at 29-22. Dillon Hunter connected on a jumper to finish off a 9-0 run and put Clemson up 31-22, the Tigers’ largest lead of the game to that point.

The Tar Heels immediately responded with a 7-0 run to pull within two at 31-29 with just under two minutes left in the half. Another three by Davidson and one by Jestin Porter had the Tigers up by six at 37-31. Hunter added two free throws with 5.1 seconds left, making it 39-31 at the half.

Injury Update

Carter Welling’s injury, suffered in last night’s win over Wake Forest, was confirmed to be a torn ACL. He will obviously miss the rest of the season.

Starting 5

With Welling out, Brad Brownell had to make a change to the lineup. Jake Wahlin and Ace Buckner were both inserted into the starting lineup. Both have come off the bench for most of the season.

Up Next

Clemson will face top-seeded Duke on Friday in the semifinals. Tipoff is at 9:30 p.m.

Photo of Chase Thompson/Courtesy of ACC