Clemson Basketball: Tigers pick up road win over rival South Carolina
Clemson basketball picked up a huge road win over the 22nd ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
ClemsonTigers62
Don’t look now, but the Clemson Tigers (9-2) are in a good position to compete for their first NCAA Tournament bid since 2010-11. The Tigers helped their cause on Wednesday night with a victory over in-state rival and 22nd ranked South Carolina (9-2). Leading scorer forward Jaron Blossomgame was solid and led the Tigers with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
For the Gamecocks, sophomore guard P.J. Dozier was sensational with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists. He also had one of the better dunks of the season with this early second half throw down.
PJ Dozier dunk vs. Clemson was a gem! #Gamecocks #SCTop10 @Dozier_Kid pic.twitter.com/aGAETHxSfa
— Gamecock Athletics (@GamecocksOnline) December 22, 2016
The game was a typical back-and-forth rivalry game with neither team able to pull ahead past six points the entire 40 minutes. A South Carolina hoop with 3:08 to go put the Gamecocks up 56-52, but South Carolina could not close it out. Clemson finished the game on a 10-4 run to eek out a 62-60 victory. A three-point attempt to win the game from Dozier was off.
The hard fought victory was huge for the Tigers in assembling a viable NCAA Tournament resume. Clemson now stands at 9-2 with no bad losses and victories over Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Nebraska. The win last night was even historic on a school level.
The ACC is a buzzsaw, but the Tigers were 10-8 in the conference last season and a similar mark would probably get them in, especially with a conference tournament win too. Their RPI is 50, Sagarin is 33 and KenPom is 22. That’s probably good enough to get in the Big Dance. Keep an eye on the Tigers this season in conference play.
For the Gamecocks, even in the loss, there are things to be encouraged about. First, Dozier is awesome. The sophomore point guard has taken on more of a leadership role in the absence of Sindarius Thornwell.
Secondly, complementary players such as Chris Silva and Maik Kotsar have stepped up as well. The team would’ve liked a better game out of senior Duane Notice last night, but all is not lost. They need Thornwell back to compete for an NCAA Tournament spot, and the Gamecocks say that he could be back in time for conference play.
Both teams conclude non-conference play with their next match-up. Clemson hosts a decent UNC-Wilmington team, while South Carolina will welcome Memphis on December 27th.
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