GREENVILLE — No matter how many times it’s proven true, the fact that exhibition games don’t really matter all that much in the big picture of a college basketball season is forgotten every year.

Clemson reminded its fans—and perhaps itself—of that very fact on Friday night.

Little more than a week after turning a scrimmage into a 40-plus minute struggle, the Tigers did the opposite in a season-opening 74-40 rout of North Carolina Central at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. They turned a possibly competitive game against a team that won 25 games a season ago into a laugher almost immediately.

A big part of the early surge came courtesy of senior big man Landry Nnoko. His stat line reads like something from a modern NBA roster: 7 points, 9 rebounds, 6 blocks in 21 minutes of action. Offensively, he provided very little—five of his points came from the free throw line—but his barrage of early rejections set the tone for a team in need of a tone-setter.

“He’s really the quarterback of our defense,” Head Coach Brad Brownell said. “He’s the guy that’s a rim protector. He’s a bright guy. He has length to shot-block. He’s got toughness. He’s smart. He’s experienced.”

With Nnoko holding it down in the paint, the Tigers were free to extend their defense on the perimeter early. The result was a Eagles scoring drought that spanned almost nine minutes and allowed Clemson’s lead to balloon from a handful of points to 35-9 with fewer than four minutes to play before halftime.

During that stretch, Nnoko blocked four shots. On one possession, he swatted two attempts in a row. He grabbed a pair of defensive rebounds, too, and two of the plays he impacted led to fruitful fast break opportunities for a Clemson team in need of a spark on the offensive end of the floor.

In short, Nnoko was the straw that stirred the proverbial drink. He found ways to contribute outside of scoring, an offseason point of emphasis for one of Brownell’s on-court leaders.

“Last year at times, I found myself just standing on the spot and pretty much not doing anything for the team,” Nnoko said. “This year, I kind of wanted to find ways to help the team.”

Clemson certainly did some other things well over the course of the game. The Tigers shot better from the perimeter than they did in that meaningless exhibition. They attacked the basket and got to the foul line. They moved the ball, dropping 16 dimes on 23 made shots.

In a way, though, it all traced back to Nnoko’s ability to take away an entire facet of the Eagles’ game. An inability to get to the rim and finish seemed to break the collective spirit of a team similarly trying to establish an identity.

The Eagles are still searching. The Tigers are not. They know who they are now, as long as Nnoko owns the rim.