CHARLOTTE — R.J. Godfrey had no idea what he and his Clemson teammates had accomplished on Thursday night. They were focused on the here and now, and not what happened 30 years ago in this same city and in the same tournament.
The fifth seeded Tigers’ 80-79 win over No. 4 seed North Carolina at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C., was just their second win over the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament.
“Wow! I did not realize that,” Godfrey said afterwards. “That is kind of surreal to do some legendary stuff like that.”
It was 30 years and four days ago that former Clemson great Greg Buckner made one of the more significant plays in Clemson basketball history. He jammed the winning basket through the net with 0.6 seconds left as the Tigers beat North Carolina for the first time in the ACC Tournament.
In Clemson lore, it is simply known as “Buckner With the Jam!”
Now, “Buckner With the Jam!” has some company. Fittingly enough, Buckner’s son is a part of the second team to beat UNC.
“It is a little crazy, man! I know what play you are talking about, that dunk! I saw that play a lot growing up,” said Ace Buckner, who scored 11 points and had three assists on Thursday. “I feel, I am confident in what I do, and I am glad my dad instilled that confidence in me.”
But making history did not end with the Tigers’ win over UNC. It also marked the second straight year Clemson advanced to the ACC’s semifinal round – a first for the program.
Clemson (24-9) also won a second game in an ACC Tournament for the just third time in history, and for the first time since 2008. The only time before that was in 1962.
“I came here to win games and boast the program,” guard Dillon Hunter said. “Me and my brother (Chase Hunter), we had a mission coming in here. Even when he left, I wanted to leave the same legacy for us and understand what type of team we are.
“We win for Coach (Brad) Brownell. Just keep winning. We are a fighting program.”
The Tigers’ fight showed in Thursday’s win, as they found a way to win and advance in college basketball’s toughest tournament despite missing forward Carter Welling. The 6-foot-11 junior was ruled out against the Tar Heels, and for the rest of the season, after tearing his ACL in Clemson’s second-round win over Wake Forest on Wednesday.
The Tigers seemed ready to cruise into the semifinals on Thursday after building an 18-point lead with 11:36 left before the Tar Heels came storming back to cut the lead to 78-76 with 13 seconds left behind a barrage of 3-pointers from Henri Veesaar and Derek Dixon.
Hunter made four free throws in the final 20 seconds to keep the Tigers ahead, including two with 11.1 second left to make it a two-possession game before Dixon added yet another triple with three seconds left.
The Tar Heels fouled Davidson, who missed both free throws with 2.4 seconds, including the second one intentionally. North Carolina’s Jarin Stevenson grabbed the rebound, but with the Tar Heels out of timeouts, he was forced to heave the ball from three-quarters court, but it fell well short of the Clemson basket.
“We just wanted to leave this place better than we found it,” Godfrey said. “That has been mine and Dillon’s goal and we kind of want to pass that to those that are going to be raised in this program.”
The Tigers will try to add more history to their impressive run when they play top-seeded Duke in the semifinals tonight. Tipoff is set for 9:30 p.m.