Clemson blasts NC State, earns critical road win

Clemson couldn’t buy a 3-pointer in its last road game, shooting 4-for-24 from behind-the-arc in a tough loss to Louisville.

The Tigers couldn’t miss from 3-point range for much of Saturday’s game at NC State and earned arguably their biggest win of the year.

Clemson beat the Wolfpack 96-71 Saturday afternoon in Raleigh, finishing off a season sweep of the Wolfpack.

With the win, Clemson improves to 21-8 (13-5) on the year. The victory also boosts the Tigers’ NCAA tournament hopes.

“Obviously a lights our performance by our team,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “Completely different than last week when we couldn’t make a shot. We made most of them today. It was just one of those days where the ball seemed to fall in.”

Clemson scored 54 points in the first half and led by 25 at the break. The lead moved to as high as 30 at one point in the second half.

Brevin Galloway led the way for Clemson, finishing with a career-high 28 points. The transfer was 7-for-9 from the field, 4-for-5 from 3-point range and made all 10 of his free throws.

PJ Hall also finished with 20 points, making 9 of his 11 shot attempts. Chase Hunter (15) and Hunter Tyson (12) also finished in double figures.

“Obviously Brevin shot it great from 3. We got a good mix from PJ. I thought Chase was aggressive getting to the basket,” Brownell said. “We just played extremely well. So it was a lot of fun for us today.”

The 25-point loss was the worst of the season for NC State, and Saturday marked only the second game the Wolfpack have lost at home all year. State was 15-1 at home prior to Saturday’s game.

Clemson jumped out to a 16-6 lead less than four minutes into the game and led by double digits the final 33-plus minutes.

“It’s not getting a lead, it’s keeping a lead. Keeping a lead is sometimes more challenging, especially on the road, in another team’s building,” Brownell said. “If they string a couple of baskets together then the building’s going to be on fire.”

But that never happened. Clemson led by more than 20 points the entire second half.

“They’ve been playing about as well as anybody in our league, so for us to come here and get a win, it means a lot to us. Very proud of that,” Brownell said.

Up next, Clemson will play at Virginia on Tuesday at 7 p.m.