It had been awhile since the Clemson basketball program had beaten North Carolina. They picked a great time to finally notch that big win.
The North Carolina Tar Heels hadn’t lost a game to Clemson in eight years and hadn’t been on a three-game losing streak in four years. Both of those came to a crashing end on Jan. 30. When the Tar Heels met the Tigers a couple weeks ago, UNC had great scoring diversity. Things haven’t been the same since.
Clemson, on the other hand, has still been trying to find a replacement for Donte Grantham. The Tigers ran into Virginia’s defense in their first game without the star. The second game was a two-point victory against a struggling Georgia Tech team. The Clemson Tigers needed this victory to prove that they’re going to be alright without Grantham.
In the first game, UNC made 15 three-pointers to Clemson’s 11. In this second matchup, the Tigers knocked down 15 and the Tar Heels made 10. Either way, double-digit 3-pointers made is a lot. The difference was the variety of shooters, though. Clemson had three guys each hit three deep shots and seven out of eight Clemson players hit at least one.
The Tar Heels have a problem defending the 3-point line and Clemson took advantage. Gabe DeVoe went off in the first game and picked up right where he left off. DeVoe hit five triples, went 6-for-12 shooting and dropped 17 points. Marcquise Reed led the team with 20 points as he knocked down three shots from deep while making all seven of his free throws.
The Tigers were so hot from deep that they were up 21-12 at the 8:44 mark with all of their shots coming from behind-the-arc.
To make matters worse, North Carolina’s Theo Pinson left the game after he landed badly underneath the basket. Later we found out that he had injured his shoulder.
Theo Pinson will not return to tonight’s game due to a left shoulder strain suffered in the opening minutes of the 1st half.
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 31, 2018
Not only has UNC struggled with the outside shot this year, but they get beat up bad inside. Garrison Brooks and Stanley Manley just aren’t getting it done this season. Luke Maye has been great but was not in this one. This was possibly his worst game all season. Since the Tar Heels have gone small in their lineup, Maye’s role has increased and UNC can’t afford for him to have an off night.
Elijah Thomas capitalized on North Carolina’s struggle inside and recorded six blocks for the game. Two more Tigers recorded at least one block and Clemson certainly won the paint game.
If there were any positives that came from this game for UNC, it’s that Johnson exploded. He crushed his Tar Heel career high and overall point total with 32 points. He made six 3-pointers and six more free throws. Johnson ultimately went 10-18 from the field and never gave up.
The score was lopsided at halftime with Clemson up 44-28. North Carolina tightened up in the second half. They showed signs of being the defending National Champions. The Heels outscored the Tigers 50-38 in the second half.
Johnson and DeVoe went back and forth hitting 3-pointers to try and pull their team’s ahead. Johnson hit a shot at the nine-minute mark, but DeVoe responded big with 6:30 to play.
Maye continued to struggle so Berry responded big time. He finished the night with 27 points on 3-for-7 shooting from downtown and 10-for-16 overall. The biggest play of the game for UNC came at the 3:30 mark when the Tar Heels set a double high ball screen which setup Berry for an open look from behind-the-arc, which he swished.
Berry wasn’t done yet as he hit another one to tie it with two minutes to play. Reed, the big time scorer for Clemson, then knocked down a triple to push Clemson in front. An empty possession gave the Tigers the ball back where they went up five with under a minute to play.
It would end up being a four-point loss for the North Carolina Tar Heels, who haven’t seen this long of a losing streak in quite some time. Clemson also exercised some demons and defeated UNC for the first time in eight years.
Once again, UNC couldn’t find scorers. Only two players reached double-digits. Roy Williams continues to use a lot of his bench but not many guys can produce. Brooks and Manley show signs at times that they can battle down low, but they’re way too inconsistent.
Clemson, on the other hand, saw four starters reach double-digit points. Their bench scored 15 points compared to UNC’s nine. The Tigers showed that they can win on any night in any way. More than two guys per night can knock down shots. Grantham is still a huge loss, but Clemson is doing better than expected without him. Both teams knew it was going to be another big shooting affair. The Tigers played the way they did last game and UNC couldn’t find consistent shooters while their defense didn’t get the job done.