RJ Godfrey turned in a career-night, but it wasn’t enough as Clemson fell 67-63 to No. 17 North Carolina at the Dean Smith Center on Tuesday night.

Trailing by three, the Tigers had one final opportunity coming out of a timeout with 10 seconds left. Instead of going for the tie, Dillon Hunter drove the lane but missed a layup attempt, sealing Clemson’s fate.

Godfrey scored a career-high for Clemson (22-9, 11-6 ACC) with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while also pulling down nine rebounds.

Luca Bogavac scored 20 for the Tar Heels (24-6, 12-5), with 15 of those coming in the second half, to help lead North Carolina to the victory.

Carter Welling finished with 13 points, shooting 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. After missing all three of his attempts in the first half, Welling was 3-of-4 in the second.

With just under five to go and Clemson leading by two, the Tar Heels went on a 6-0 run with Bogavac drilling two three-pointers, putting his team up 59-55 with just over four minutes left. North Carolina never trailed again. A Seth Trimble basket with just over two to play would then push the lead out to six at 61-55.

Coming out of a timeout, Ace Buckner knocked down a three that pulled the Tigers back to within three. After a defensive stop, a free throw by Godfrey pulled Clemson to within two with 1:14 to go. The Tigers forced a miss on the other end, but the Heels came down with the offensive rebound, their ninth of the game. After a timeout, Derek Dixon hit a three, pushing UNC’s lead back out to five at 64-59.

Hunter knocked down two free throws, making it 64-61 with 37.1 seconds left. After North Carolina missed the front end of a one-and-one, Dillon Hunter scored on a driving layup, pulling the Tigers to within one at 64-63. Bogavac then hit two free throws on the other end, pushing the lead back out to three with 12 seconds left.

A 12-0 second-half run put the Tigers in a 44-37 hole with about 14 minutes to play, but Clemson responded with a 7-0 run, highlighted by a three-pointer by Welling, to tie things up at 44-44. The two teams would go back and forth over the next several minutes.

After Clemson missed its first six three-pointers, Godfrey and Jestin Porter hit on back-to-back shots from deep, giving the Tigers their first lead at 19-17 with just under nine to go in the first half. Godfrey’s actually banked in, giving him just his second three-pointer of the season.

Clemson went on to miss the next five from beyond the arc as the Tar Heels went on an 8-0 run. However, the Tigers finished the first half on a 7-0 run of their own, highlighted by back-to-back buckets by Butta Johnson, including a three-pointer as time was winding down, allowing Clemson to take a 30-27 lead into the break.

Free Throw Disaprity

North Carolina shot 15 free throws compared to just six for Clemson. The Heels were 11-of-15 from the stripe, while the Tigers were 4-of-6. Clemson outscored the Heels 34-18 in the paint, but rarely got to the free-throw line.

ACC Tournament Seedings

Clemson and North Carolina came into the night tied for fourth place in the ACC Standings. A win would have clinched the four-seed and a double-bye for the Tigers in next week’s ACC Tournament. Instead, Clemson will have to settle for a single bye. What happens in the final regular season game against Georgia Tech will dictate the final seeding.

Net Rankings

The Tigers came into the night ranked No. 35 in the NET. This loss was a Quad 1 loss, meaning it shouldn’t hurt them much in the rankings. Clemson is now 5-6 against Quad 1 competition.

Up Next

Clemson concludes the regular season on Saturday at home against Georgia Tech. It will be Senior Day at Littlejohn Coliseum.