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REPORT: Clemson makes history for the first time in 44 years.
The Clemson Tigers are advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time in 44 years.
Clemson came out firing on all cylinders. The Tigers’ defense overwhelmed the 2-seeded Wildcats, who entered the game ranked 9th in offensive efficiency (KenPom). Switching on screen and preventing fast break points, nothing came easy for Arizona. Meanwhile Chase Hunter, Ian Schieffelin and some major bench contributions from Chauncey Wiggins and RJ Godfrey helped the Tigers build a 27-14 lead with 7:18 to go in the first half.
Arizona continuously attacked Clemson in the paint with 7-footer Oumar Ballo, but Hall and Schieffelin didn’t commit a single foul in the half — sometimes even sidestepping and allowing a bucket. Ballo led Arizona in scoring at halftime, but still only had six points thanks to 0-3 free throw shooting. Arizona ratcheted up the defense with a full court press towards the end of the half and took Clemson out of rhythm. This allowed the Wildcats to cut the lead to eight as the teams entered the half with the score at 39-31.
Schieffelin led all scorers with 9 first half points while Chase Hunter and Chauncey Wiggins each had 8 and PJ Hall had 7.
Arizona came out of halftime with even more defensive intensity and it was quickly clear that their defensive ability would make holding the lead even harder than it was against Baylor the weekend prior. In less than six minutes, Arizona completed the comeback and took a 46-45 lead, their first of the game. That’s typically when you’d expect an underdog who took an early lead to fold. Clemson however showed incredible resiliency and regrouped.
Over the next 10 minutes of game clock, the Arizona Wildcats made zero field goals. They scored 12 points all coming from perfect 12/12 free throw shooting. Clemson was severely outplaying the blue blooded favorites, and it felt like the referees — who let both teams play a very physical style in the first half — were determined to decide the game themselves.
Despite this, Clemson smartly slowed the tempo and actually regained the lead and then extended it to 7-points with just under 5 minutes left to play. Unfortunately, the bevy of foul calls put Arizona into the bonus and Clemson deep into foul trouble. Coach Brownell responded by switching to a zone defense. Remarkably, this lulled Arizona into settling for out-of-rhythm 3-pointers again and again.
As the 2-minute mark neared, Arizona was within three points. Clemson needed points to avoid a sense of impending doom, and were gifted a 1-and-1 opportunity that sent PJ Hall to the free throw line. He had missed the front-end of an 1-and-1 moments before and as the game cut to an extended TV timeout, the importance of the shots loomed. After a long wait and a big breath at the line, PJ Hall calmly sank both shots to re-extend the Tiger lead to five.
On the next possession, Ballo got inside position and scored easily. Schieffelin and Hall returned the favor with a gorgeous high-low play that netted a lay-up. Arizona once again forced Hall to decide between his fourth foul or another Ballo lay-up and Ballo got his basket. Clemson held a precarious two-point lead with 91 seconds remaining. They tried to work it in the post again, but neither Schieffelin nor Hall could get good positioning. With 7 seconds remaining on the shot clock — and good fortune to not get called for a 3-second violation on Hall — Coach Brownell made a bold decision to call timeout just before Hall attempted a contested shot. This is what he drew up:
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The creative in-bounds play netted Clemson a wide open dunk and a two-possession lead. Years ago, Clemson struggled immensely with in-bounding the ball, but Coach Brownell truly tilted the matchup in his team’s favor with at least three “special teams” buckets like this one. He outcoached Arizona in this one and proved can no longer be viewed as the same coach he was a decade ago.
Arizona had been forcing 3-pointers all half and eventually one fell at the most critical time. Jaden Bradley, who came off the bench to lead Arizona with 18 points, made a key 3-pointer to once again give the Wildcats life. Clemson would have the ball with 49 seconds to go and a two-point lead. A bucket would give them complete control of the game. A defensive stop would give Arizona a chance to tie or win in the final seconds. After an 0-10 performance in the ACC tournament loss to Boston College, Chase Hunter has been Clemson’s best player through the NCAA tournament. It was fitting that he would take the game’s most important shot.
After burning most of the shot clock, Chase Hunter took a pass from Joe Girard and attacked. He got into the paint, leapt, ducked under the extended arms of Jaden Bradley — absorbing contact along the way — and laid it in as the whistle blew. He’d make the free throw to complete the three-point play and ice the game. Arizona would score again, but it was too late. Clemson broke their fullcourt press and turned it into a Dillon Hunter lay-up in the final moments to end it.
Clemson notched the best win in program history, beating a 2-seed for the first time. In context of program history, the seismic proportion of the win can’t be understated. Clemson’s NCAA tournament wins are shown below:
