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Clemson basketball upset in ACC Tournament, trounced 76-55 by 11th-seed Boston College
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- Clemson basketball upset in ACC Tournament, trounced 76-55 by 11th-seed Boston College
Clemson basketball suffered a 76-55 loss to Boston College Wednesday night at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., to conclude its ACC Tournament appearance.
The second-round matchup began with a battle between all-conference players PJ Hall of Clemson and Quinten Post of Boston College. They traded baskets with Post making a mid-range jumper and a dunk, and Hall scoring a 3-pointer and dunked on a fast break.
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The 11th-seeded Eagles (18-14) built a 16-7 lead before Post earned his second foul of the game and sat for the rest of the half. The 6th-seeded Tigers (21-10) cut the lead to 18-17 with Boston College's best player off the floor. Yet, the Eagles responded, going on a 14-1 run to lead 31-18.
In Post's absence, Claudell Harris Jr. stepped up, scoring 13 points to lead all scorers at halftime and give the Eagles a 40-28 lead at halftime.
Boston College continued its strong play in the second half, keeping a double-digit lead throughout that Clemson could not cut into. Hall scored 12 in the second half, but the Tigers could not contain the Eagles' torrid scoring.
The Tigers led for only 1:19. Clemson had no answers for Harris and Jaeden Zackery − both guards combined for 49 points.
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The Tigers shot 4-for-20 from 3-point range, and the Eagles shot 10-for-29. Boston College outrebounded Clemson 43-27 and had five more offensive boards.
Hall scored 21 points, and Joseph Girard III put up 13 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Here are two takeaways from Clemson's one-and-done ACC Tournament loss and what lies ahead for the Tigers.
Clemson basketball couldn't take advantage of Post's foul trouble
Post, who made All-ACC second-team, had nine points, three rebounds and two assists before getting his second foul with 13:01 remaining in the half. Without their leading scorer, the Tigers climbed back into the game, going on a 8-0 run to cut the lead to one point.
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Yet, Clemson could not surpass the Eagles, which went on a set of runs to build a 15-point lead in the first half. Harris and Zackery combined for 16 points, including four made 3-pointers. It was too much for the Tigers to overcome despite cutting the lead to 12 at halftime.
No reliable scoring to support PJ Hall and Joseph Girard's outings
It was an abysmal scoring game for the Tigers. Hall and Girard were the only players to reach double-digit points, accounting for 34 of Clemson's points.
Chase Hunter, who is averaging 12.6 points, scored two points, shooting 0-for-10 from the field, and Ian Schieffelin, who averages 9.7 points per game, logged five points, shooting 2-for-7 from the field. No other player scored more than seven. It must quickly fix its shooting woes as the NCAA Tournament approaches.
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What's next?
The Tigers will await Selection Sunday (6 p.m., CBS) to see if they made the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time under coach Brad Brownell.
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson basketball upset by Boston College in ACC Tournament
