Clemson basketball rolls by Notre Dame to clinch No. 3 seed in ACC Tournament
Clemson wrapped up the No. 3 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament with a 87-64 victory against Notre Dame Saturday night at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers (22-9, 14-6 ACC), who have won 14 league games for the first time in program history, tied for third place in the ACC standings with Pitt and Duke, but won the tiebreaker by virtue of beating both the Panthers and Blue Devils in their only meeting this season.
The Tigers, who will receive a double bye in the ACC Tournament for the first time, will play the winner between No. 6 seed NC State and the No. 11 seed Virginia Tech/No. 14 seed Notre Dame winner on Thursday.
Clemson, which placed five players in double figures against Notre Dame, improved to 15-1 at home this season.
Notre Dame (11-20, 3-17) was playing its final regular-season game under longtime coach Mike Brey, who will step down at season’s end after 23 seasons coaching the Fighting Irish.
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Sophomore stars on senior night
Forward Ian Schieffelin could be Clemson’s X-factor as the Tigers enter postseason play. The 6-foot-8 sophomore appears to be gaining confidence by the game and over his last four games has scored 36 points, including 16 against Notre Dame.
Schieffelin made all seven of his shots from the floor, including his fifth three-point shot of the season. He also had six rebounds, two assists and blocked two shots.
Over his last four games Schieffelin has made 69.5 percent (16 of 23) of his shots.
Tyson dominant on defensive boards
Hunter Tyson leads the ACC and ranks third in the nation in defensive rebounding at 8.19 per game. Tyson showed why against Notre Dame, grabbing nine defensive rebounds in the first half and finishing with 12.
His 244 defensive rebounds this season are 31 more than the second-leading defensive rebounder in the league, Syracuse’s Jesse Edwards.
Tyson also scored 16 points, giving him his 15th double-double of the season, which ranks second in the ACC.
Tigers on target from long range
Clemson will head into the postseason having exhibited some impressive marksmanship from three-point range of late, which could make them a tough out in the ACC Tournament. The Tigers have made 10 or more three-point shots in three of their last four games, connecting on 42 percent of their long-range shots during that span.
That shooting touch continued against Notre Dame as Clemson made 13 of 29 three-pointers, or 44.8 percent.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson basketball notches third-place finish in ACC standings
