By Ron Pitts for Urban Media Today
On a cold winter snowy day outside of Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina, Coach Brad Brownell had his #22 Tigers (17-4) on defensive heater inside against Jeff Capel’s (9-12) Pitt Panthers. The Tigers started off to what seemed to have matched the snowy temperatures outside and got off to a cold start in the first 7 minutes of the game. After a timeout, Coach Brownell’s Tigers turned up their defensive heat and went on a 15-5 run vs Pitt to close out the first half with Clemson leading at half, 33-16. Their defense created points for their offense with a balanced team effort for the first half. Butta Johnson came off the bench to lead the Tigers at half with 8 points 2 rebounds and 1 assist with 16 minutes of first half play. Dillon Hunter also snatched 5 rebounds in the first half.
Brownell has a balanced team where that came from different angles to attack. He has built his team with a structure that can send players in from the bench to help overcome any deficit. The Tiger’s bench outscored the Panthers 14-4 in the first half, which made a huge difference going into halftime.
In the second half, Coach Capel ramped up the Panthers defense as they clawed their way back into the game to chew into the 17-point first half deficit and got the game down to a 9-point Clemson lead.
The Tigers, however, matched the Panthers’ energy and turned the pressure up. They pushed the lead back to 15 points led by Nick Davidson and Carter Welling with 9 minutes left in the game. At that point, Coach Brownell and his Tigers never looked back and went on to suffocate the Panthers. They closed the game out to win their 15th straight game against Pitt with a 63-52 victory. The Clemson offense struggled to put points on the board to close the game, but once again the defensive team effort the #22 Tigers withstood the winter storm to fight off Pitt and improve in ACC play to 8-1 and 18-4 overall.
Pitt falls to 2-7 in ACC play and 9-13 overall. Coach Capel’s Panther team showed some fight against Clemson. Damarco Minor and Roman Siulepa led the Panthers in scoring with 12 points each, but it just wasn’t enough to match up against The Tiger trio of Carter Welling (12 pts.), Nick Davidson (12 pts.), and RJ Godfrey (10 pts.). The difference in the game was the Tigers defensive ambush allowed them to get extra possessions and shoot 38% from 3-point line and 46% from the field. Pitt struggled from the 3 point line with 19% shooting and 38% from the field. Clemson’s aggressive team style allowed them to get to the free throw line and shoot 85% on 17-20 from the line. Overall, another total team win for Coach Brad Brownell and the #22 Tigers.
The Tigers are set to travel out west to face the Stanford Cardinals on Wednesday, February 4th and the Pitt Panthers are set to travel to Virginia to face the Cavaliers Tuesday February, 2nd.
Clemson Leaders:
Scoring: Nick Davidson and Carter Welling 12 Points
Rebound: Dillon Hunter 6
Assist: Ace Buckner 4
