National Basketball Association
Clemson 78, N.C. State 74
When: 8:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Officials:
# Roger Ayers, # Mike Eades, # Jamie Luckie
Attendance:
6853
By The Sports Xchange
CLEMSON, S.C. - Jaron Blossomgame scored all of his 16 points in the second half as Clemson rallied to defeat North Carolina State 78-74 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Blossomgame, who missed his first six shots, scored eight consecutive points for Clemson (15-14, 5-12 ACC) in the final three minutes of the game as the Tigers won for just the second time in eight games.
Clemson will cap its regular season at home Saturday against Boston College.
The victory enabled Clemson to end a streak of futility in close games; the Tigers entered the game having lost nine of 10 ACC games decided by six or fewer points.
N.C. State (15-16, 4-14), which got a game-high 18 points from forward Abdul-Malik Abu, closed its regular season by losing nine of its final 10 games.
Guard Shelton Mitchell added 16 points for Clemson, including 10 in the first half. Center Sidy Djitte had 12 points and guards Marcquise Reed and Gabe DeVoe added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Forward Ted Kapita scored on a baseline jumper with three seconds left in the half to give N.C. State a 38-37 lead at the break, and the Wolfpack continued to lead until a driving layup by DeVoe gave Clemson a 51-50 lead with 12 minutes left.
Clemson never trailed again and led by as many as six points with 8:50 remaining.
N.C. State pulled within two, 76-74, in the final seconds, but freshman guard Dennis Smith Jr. missed a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining and Blossomgame added two free throws to seal the victory.
Smith added 13 points for the Wolfpack while guards Terry Henderson and Maverick Rowan added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Top Game Performances
| N.C. State |
|
Clemson |
|
Abdul-Malik Abu 18 |
Scoring |
Jaron Blossomgame 16 |
|
Dennis Smith Jr. 5 |
Assists |
Jaron Blossomgame 2 |
|
Dennis Smith Jr. 8 |
Rebounds |
Sidy Djitte 9 |
|
Abdul-Malik Abu 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Sidy Djitte 6 |
|
Terry Henderson 2 |
Steals |
Gabe DeVoe 1 |
|
Terry Henderson 2 |
Blocks |
Sidy Djitte 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| N.C. State
|
74 |
49.2 |
7-18 |
7-8 |
10 |
28 |
6 |
4 |
8 |
| Clemson
|
78 |
46.8 |
7-17 |
13-18 |
9 |
34 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
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