CLEMSON — After slowly building a 13-point lead, Clemson used a 12-0 run in the final five minutes of the first half to take a 25-point lead into the locker room, and it cruised from there. The Tigers won their 2026-27 season opener 85-72 Monday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Ace Buckner scored a career-best 20 points, while Dylan Faulkner produced a double-double in his first official game as a Clemson Tiger. The Samford transfer scored 16 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had five assists in the victory.

The Clemson Insider’s Will Vandervort and Ashby Mixon breakdown Clemson’s victory.