No. 24 Clemson looks to continue its winning ways on the road in Atlantic Coast Conference play, heading to Chestnut Hill, Mass., on Tuesday night to face Boston College.
The Tigers (18-4, 10-1 ACC) have won three straight since their lone conference loss at Wake Forest on Jan. 17. Dating back to the 2013-2014 season, Clemson is 10-1 against BC and has won all five head-to-head meetings in Chestnut Hill.
With Saturday’s 82-81 triumph at Florida State, Clemson has won four ACC road games for just the sixth time in the last 70 years, and another win would match the record set in 1986-87.
Chase Hunter converted a game-winning three-point play with four seconds remaining to seal the win and cap his career-high 26-point effort on 7-of-12 shooting.
“He’s really good (in late-game situations),” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “He makes you look good as a coach. He’s got tremendous speed, he’s athletic, can get to the rim, can make a three.”
Clemson now has three one-point ACC wins, the most conference wins by that margin in program history.
Hunter scored 19 second-half points en route to his fourth 20-point effort of the season. The junior had missed the previous three games with a foot injury.
Hunter Tyson scored 17 of his 27 points in the first half, hitting a career-high six 3-pointers, while adding seven rebounds.
The Tigers were without Boston College transfer Brevin Galloway (emergency groin surgery) and forward Alex Hemenway (plantar fasciitis), who have averaged 10.6 and 9.8 points per game, respectively.
Prior to the win at Florida State, Brownell indicated that Hunter was closer to returning than Hemenway, who has not played since Dec. 17.
“I did not know if he had it in him,” Brownell said of Hunter. “Sometimes when you are playing well and making some plays, that adrenaline kicks in. … He was excited to play. I’m sure all those things helped.”
Boston College (10-12, 4-7) had won back-to-back games against Notre Dame and Louisville before No. 7 Virginia pulled away for a 76-57 win on Saturday.
Quinten Post has been consistent as of late after missing the first 13 games of the season with a foot injury, reaching the 20-point mark in each of his last three contests.
The 7-footer finished with 24 points against the Cavaliers to lead BC, including 14 straight early in the first half. Makai Ashton-Langford added 12 points, but no other Eagle scored more than four.
“I thought we had a good flow (for about 24 minutes),” BC coach Earl Grant said. “(We were) getting the ball inside to Quinten Post, driving the ball from the perimeter, we made some threes. … As our team continues to grow, we’re trying to be a little bit more mature.”
DeMarr Langford Jr. sat out the second half of the Virginia game with a knee contusion.
“We got a lot of young guys we’re playing,” Grant said. “When we come off the bench we got a lot of freshmen we’re playing, some sophomores, and I love them all, so we just gotta grow and develop. This is a really challenging place to play when you have young guys.”
–Field Level Media
