CLEMSON — Ace Buckner had a career night as Clemson took down rival South Carolina 68-61 on Tuesday night inside Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers have now won two of the past three meetings in the rivalry series and three of the past five.
Buckner finished with 19 points, a new career high, on 7-of-9 shooting, while also pulling down five rebounds. Carter Welling added 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Dillon Hunter finished with six points, six assists and three boards.
While the Gamecocks were able to keep it fairly close in the first half, despite shooting 13% from beyond the arc over the first 20 minutes, the Tigers would start to pull away shortly after halftime. A Buckner layup six minutes into the second half gave Clemson its largest lead to that point at 43-32. Buckner then drilled a three, pushing the lead out to 46-34.
The Tigers would quickly push the lead out to 13 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Welling with just under seven minutes to go. It was the Tigers biggest lead of the game.
After a slow start, Clemson went on a 13-3 run, taking its first lead of the game on a three-point basket by Welling that put the Tigers up 15-12, a lead they would never relinquish. South Carolina would go more than five minutes without scoring a point as Clemson extended the lead to 20-12. After a short jumper from Hunter with just over four minutes to go until halftime, the Tigers by 10 and would eventually take a 34-27 lead into the break.
Abysmal Perimeter Shooting
South Carolina was downright awful from deep. The Gamecocks were just 4-of-26 from beyond the arc and many of those misses were decent looks.
Free Throw Woes
The Tigers free throw struggles is the only thing that kept this one close. Clemson shot just 19-of-31 from the charity stripe. Welling was responsible for eight of those misses, with the big man going 5-of-13 from the line.
Injury Update
Zac Foster left the game early in the first half after crashing to the floor on a driving layup. The true freshman was visbily shaken up and walked gingerly off the court. He was eventually escorted to the locker room and did not return.
Butta Johnson was also banged up in the first half, although he was able to remain in the game. Johnson was then seen in the second half riding the exercise bike and sporting a brace around his left thigh/hamstring during a timeout. He did not return after halftime.
Up Next
Clemson and Cincinnati will square off on Sunday at Bon Secours Wellness in Greenville as part of the 2025 Greenville Winter Invitational. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m., and ESPN will have the broadcast.