Clemson rose to the occasion when it needed to in a late West-Coast showdown with Stanford, claiming its 9th ACC win of the season and its 13th straight road win in ACC play.
In a close back-and-forth game, the Tigers struggled with uncharacteristic turnovers and a sluggish offense. The first half was tightly contested, with no team pulling away until a Chase Thompson layup gave Clemson a 7-point lead. The Cardinals would quickly storm back, ripping off a 13-4 run to close the half up 32-30.
The second half gave us a similar story, with neither team able to build much of an advantage. Tied at 35, Jake Wahlin made a nice steal but immediately gave the ball back to Stanford’s Oskar Giltay for a gimme dunk. Minutes later, Ebuka Okorie grabbed another steal and free dunk to put the Cardinals up 41-35 with just over 14 minutes to play.
RJ Godfrey flexed on a nice and-1 to jumpstart Clemson’s momentum, an Ace Buckner 3 pulled things even again, and both teams continued to trade baskets for several minutes. After Stanford’s Aidan Cammann drained a 3, Chase Thompson fired right back with a 3 of his own, sparking an 8-0 run by the Tigers. But tonight wasn’t going to come easy for either team, and the Cardinals clawed right back via an Aidan Cammann career performance (19 points).
With 4 minutes to play, the Tigers clung to a 3-point lead, having shrugged off 12 turnovers and some sloppy moments thanks to strong bench play from Buckner, Thompson, and Nick Davidson.
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A Jestin Porter foul allowed Ebuka Okorie to slot home 2 more free throws and the game was tied at 62 apiece. After a missed Dillon Hunter layup was knocked out of play on the rebound, Clemson used a timeout to challenge the call, but there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the ruling.
Fouled during a charge, RJ Godfrey missed both of his free throw attempts, the second an ugly airball. A Nick Davidson step-back also failed to find the basket, but Stanford couldn’t land any shots either, and Oskar Giltay fouled out of the game to give Davidson two redemption free throws.
Stanford burned the clock until Okorie missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds remaining, and Ace Buckner sealed the game with two free throws of his own.
Up next, Clemson stays on the West Coast to face off with California on Saturday as it seeks to extend its 13-game road win conference streak.