Clemson destroys FSU in historic win

Clemson put together a dominant performance from start to finish Wednesday night against Florida State, pounding the Seminoles 94-54 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Tigers rebounded from a poor showing over the weekend at North Carolina to play their most complete game of the season and snap a three-game losing streak.

The win is the largest margin of victory ever for Clemson in an ACC game, topping the previous record of 34.

“Terrific performance by our team. Just played really good on both ends. Shot it really well, which always helps,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “I thought our activity level defensively was good, created some turnovers, rebounded well. Just a terrific performance. Every once in a while you have a game like this.”

Clemson got stellar performances from PJ Hall and Chase Hunter in the victory.

Hall led the way with 20 points and 6 rebounds, knocking down all four of his 3-point attempts. Hunter added 18 points and 6 assists, while going 7-for-9 from the floor.

Clemson shot better than 60 percent from the field and made 12 of its 25 3-point attempts.

Defensively, Clemson held Florida State to only 12 of 29 on 2-point attempts. FSU did make 9 of 20 3-pointers, but it didn’t matter.

Clemson outrebounded the Seminoles 34-20 and had only 9 turnovers, compared to 16 for FSU.

“Defensively, I thought we did a nice job. We didn’t give them a lot of easy stuff around the basket,” Brownell said. “We were just locked in and got off to a good start and shots fell. It’s just one of those nights where you play really, really well.”

Clemson is now 19-7 (11-4) following Wednesday’s win over Florida State and is one game back of Virginia for the ACC lead, with five regular season games remaining.

“We’re still in it. We’re right there. We might be a game out right now, but we’ve got to continue to do well and keep us in it,” Brownell said. “It’s what you want to be. You want to be playing meaningful games in March. And that’s what this team has done. And it’s kind of what I told them as part of my message this week.”

The Tigers will look to win a second straight game Saturday at Louisville. Clemson beat the Cardinals 83-70 earlier this season.

“I’m just pleased with our guys,” Brownell said. “Thought we played well and bounced back and now we’ve gotta take it on the road.”