Clemson eliminates NC State from ACC Tournament
Jaron Blossomgame and Shelton Mitchell each scored 22 points as Clemson easily handled North Carolina State 75-61 Tuesday in the first Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament game at the Barclays Center.
No. 12 seed Clemson (17-14) moves on to play fifth-seeded Duke on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
The loss puts an end to a lost season for N.C. State (15-17), seeded 13th. Coach Mark Gottfried was notified three weeks ago that he wouldn’t be back next season. In six seasons with the Wolfpack, he finishes with a record of 123-86.
The Wolfpack lost 11 of 12 down the stretch and did it with a potential lottery pick in ACC Freshman of the Year Dennis Smith Jr.
In what could be his final game at N.C. State, Smith didn’t score until he hit a jumper with 43 seconds left in the first half. He finished with a season-low seven points, on 3-for-12 shooting, with four turnovers.
Midway through the second half, he got trapped near the sideline by the Tigers and it led to a shot clock violation for the Wolfpack. Marcquise Reed then delivered a 3-pointer at the other end to make it 59-43, giving Clemson its largest lead to that point.
The Tigers have won three in a row. Blossomgame and Mitchell carried them against North Carolina State, shooting a combined 17-for-30 while the rest of the team was 12-for-38.
Clemson will need contributions from more than just their stars against Duke, which beat the Tigers by two in their only meeting this season.
“We missed a couple of opportunities to get the lead, winning the game,” Mitchell said. “They’re a great team. They space the floor. They have a lot of weapons.”
Close losses have been Clemson’s specialty this season. The Tigers had lost 10 games by six points or less.
“It’s not easy to come back to practice every week when you’re losing one-point games, two-point games, one-point games in a variety of ways,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Some of the reason for that is the character of the guys I coach.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2017 at 12:10 AM with the headline "Clemson eliminates NC State from ACC Tournament."