WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Clemson Rocks BC, Will Face Duke

By J. Mike Blake

Mar 15, 2008

Charlotte, N.C. — With Clemson’s 82-48 win over Boston College, all of the top four seeds in the ACC Tournament have advanced into Saturday’s semifinals.

The Tigers shipped the Eagles back to Boston with a dominating, bench-clearing performance.

The Tigers (23-8) came roaring back with a 19-0 run after surrendering the game’s first six points and never looked back. It took a 42-25 advantage into halftime, in large part due to its ability to force 13 turnovers.

“Obviously we’re very pleased with the way we were able to play tonight. [I] certainly didn’t expect to have that margin of victory, but I thought our guys deserved it with our attention to detail and our game plan,” coach Oliver Purnell said.

Awaiting Clemson in the semifinals will be Duke, the team that finished one place higher than the Tigers did in the conference standings.

Clemson lost its first meeting with Duke in much the same way the Tigers were able to wallop the Eagles on Friday. The Tigers got 38 points off 22 Boston College turnovers, but gave up 37 points to Duke on 21 turnovers on Jan. 19.

“Hopefully we’ll take care of the basketball better. One of the strengths of the Duke teams is the ability to turn you over in the half-court that leads to uncontested baskets and we have to eliminate as much possibly can,” Purnell said.

“I do think we’re a better basketball team [since playing Duke] … And that game was at Duke, one of the toughest venues to play in and this game is in Charlotte, a neutral court. I’d rather be here than there, but Duke’s playing very well, I thought they played very well tonight [versus Georgia Tech].”

Duke has dominated the series as of late, winning the last 22 games between the two schools.

Clemson received balanced scoring from its players, with Garner product James Mays leading the way with 15 points.

“It’s definitely an exciting chance to be able to play a Duke or a North Carolina, but we have to approach it like every game this year,” said Mays. “We have to go home tonight, get our rest in the hotel and prepare like no other come tomorrow morning and come out ready to play.”

A large contingency of Clemson fans were on hand at Charlotte Bobcats Arena, and were able to witness Cliff Hammonds receiving the first-ever Skip Prosser Award before the game’s opening tip.

The award is given to the ACC’s “top scholar-athlete in men’s basketball.” Hammonds is a third-team All-ACC and first-team defense performer. The senior is a husband, a father, and has a 3.21 cumulative GPA while double-majoring in architecture and psychology.