Clemson Stomps NC State 96-71

Feb 25, 2023 - 9:20 PM

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Brevin Galloway scored a career-high 28 points and PJ Hall notched his 10th 20-point effort to help drive Clemson to a dominant road win against NC State on Saturday.

In an elimination game for the Brownell’s group, the must-win mentality was evident for the Tigers as they roared out to a 19-6 lead in the first five minutes. State would rally for a 7-2 run to bring it within 8 before Clemson put its foot on the pedal again and stretched their lead to as much as 25 points at the end of the first half.

Clemson scored the most points in a half all year in this contest, and the game was virtually won before the first half even ended. Led by Galloway, Hunter, Tyson, and Hall, Clemson shot nearly 60% from the field, including a spicy 52% from three. Those four Tigers in particular accounted for 75 of the team’s 96 points, an absolutely locked-in showing from the starters.

The second half never got very interesting as far as the outcome of the game was concerned, although the Tigers kept providing Clemson fans with plenty of satisfying plays, including this slam-follow up by Hall:

A late desperation rally from the Wolfpack allowed them to bring the scoreline to a slightly less embarrassing margin but the Tigers walked out with a convincing win on the road.

This victory pushes them to 21-8 on the season and 13-5 in ACC play. They face a season-defining road matchup with Virginia on Tuesday night before closing out the year against Notre Dame at home. At worst Clemson must split those 1-1 and deliver a big performance in the ACC tournament to have any hopes for the NCAA tournament.

It’s a distant possibility but today’s win against the Wolfpack was a step in the right direction.