Clemson will try for a program-record 12th league win when it visits reeling Louisville in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday.
Clemson (19-7, 11-4 ACC) is in fourth place and a game behind first-place Virginia and Pitt after a convincing 94-54 win over visiting Florida State on Wednesday.
Clemson’s 11 conference wins ties a program record for a season. The Tigers finished with 11 league wins as a member of the ACC during the 2017-2018 season and when they played in the Southern Conference in the 1951-52 season.
Clemson’s 40-point win over the Seminoles was its largest in an ACC game in program history, topping a 34-point win over Duke in 1975.
The Tigers took a 47-26 halftime lead, marking Clemson’s highest-scoring first half this season. They led by as many as 41 in the second half and were led by PJ Hall’s 20 points and six rebounds, while Chase Hunter added 18 points and six assists.
Hunter Tyson and Josh Beadle added 10 points apiece for the Tigers, who shot a blistering 35-of-58 (60.3 percent) from the field, including 12-of-25 (48 percent) from 3-point range.
“It will definitely be a momentum-booster for us,” Hunter said after Clemson ended a three-game losing streak. “I wouldn’t say we were down these past weeks, but losing isn’t fun. So getting this win and going into the next game, it’s definitely a big game for us.”
Tyson (15.4 points per game, 9.6 rebounds), Hall (14.6 ppg), Hunter (14.3) and Brevin Galloway (10.6) all average in double figures in scoring for the Tigers.
Last-place Louisville (3-23, 1-14) is coming off a 61-58 setback at home against No. 7 Virginia on Wednesday, the Cardinals’ fourth straight loss and 14th defeat in their past 15 games.
Louisville fell apart down the stretch against the Cavaliers.
After Jae’Lyn Withers’ jumper tied the game at 44 with 9:31 left, Virginia went on a 9-0 run to take a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
El Ellis, who averages a team-high 17.6 points and 4.7 assists per game, had 21 points and three assists, while Withers, who averages 9.7 points per game, added 12 points and eight rebounds. Mike James, who averages 9.3 points per game, finished with 10 against Virginia.
The Cardinals haven’t given up on a season in which they’ve already set a school record with 23 losses.
“I feel like lately we’ve been fighting. And honestly, we’re just a better team than we were before, a lot better team,” Ellis said. “We came a long way from the beginning of the season to now.”
Clemson recorded an 83-70 home win over Louisville on Jan. 11.
–Field Level Media
