ACC Tournament Serving as ‘Get Back Tour’ for Clemson
By: Jason Priester March 12, 2026

CHARLOTTE — Just call the ACC Tournament the ‘Get Back Tour’ for Clemson.

When the Tigers found out they would square off with Wake Forest again in the second round, it was a game that piqued the locker room’s interest, seeing as the Demon Deacons knocked off Clemson 85-77 last month in Winston-Salem.

With the win, the Tigers move on to the quarterfinals and will face North Carolina, another team that beat them in the regular season. Clemson fought hard in that one, but ultimately fell 67-63 in the Dean Dome.

With the Tar Heels on deck, veteran guard Jestin Porter said the Tigers have another chance at avenging a regular-season defeat.

“Definitely. When we seen the schedule, we was like, this is like a get back tour,” Porter said. “We lost to (Wake), we lost to (UNC) too. So if we beat (Wake), we can beat (UNC).”

Porter finished with five points in Wednesday night’s win, hitting a key three-pointer in the second half. In fact, it was the only shot the Tigers hit from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes of play.

Winning games in the ACC Tournament is part of the reason Porter decided to sign with Clemson back in the offseason.

“I came here to be on another great team for my last year,” Porter said. “To experience stuff like this. The ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. It is a good feeling.”

A big part of the win over the Demon Deacons was the Tigers’ effort on the defensive end of the court. The first time the two teams played, Clemson wasn’t very good defensively. That wasn’t the case this time around.

The Tigers held Wake to just 10-of-28 from the floor in the opening half and just 3-of-10 from deep, with Clemson building an 18-point lead. While the Deacs shot better in the final half, the deficit proved to be too much to overcome.

“It was way better,” Porter said. “We watched film from the last game, and we were like, man that is not us. That was not our type of defense. As you see, we played together more on the court.”

Clemson and North Carolina will face off on Thursday night with tipoff scheduled for 9:30 p.m.