Coach Brad Brownell entered the season on the hot seat, but the Tigers got off to a 18-4 start.

Clemson has lost four of its last six games, but righted the ship against Syracuse’s zone defense with a 91-73 home win Wednesday. The Tigers are now 20-8 and 12-5 in the ACC, with road games coming up at NC State and at Virginia, and home against Notre Dame to end the regular season. The computers aren’t as fond of Clemson, who 3-3 in Quad I games.

Clemson fifth-year senior forward Hunter Tyson of Monroe, N.C., exploded for 31 points to lead the Tigers to a 78-64 home win over NC State on Dec. 30.

NC State hosts Clemson at 12 p.m. Saturday on RSN.

Clemson had all five starters reach double figures in the win over Syracuse, and junior guard Chase Hunter had 13 points and 11 assists, and Tyson added 29 points, 10 rebounds and went 6 of 12 on three-pointers.

Junior center PJ Hall, senior guard Brevin Galloway and sophomore power forward Ian Schieffelin round out the starting lineup.

Rankings

Clemson is No. 76 in the NET rankings, and NC State is No. 36.

ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Tigers ranked No. 68 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 35.

KenPom.com has Clemson at No. 79, and NCSU checks in at No. 39.

RealtimeRPI.com has Clemson ranked No. 92 in the country, and NC State is No. 29.

Shooting

Clemson is shooting 75.0 points per game, and shooting 46.8 percent from the field, 36.2 percent on three-pointers and 79.4 percent at the free-throw line.

Freshman forward Chauncey Wiggins has gone 13 of 28 on there-pointers off the bench, and senior wing Alex Hemenway is at 45.6 percent. Tyson is the third player over 40 percent at 42.1 percent with a team-high 67 three-point field goals.

Rebounding

The Tigers are averaging 34.5 rebounds per game and are a plus-1.6 rebounding margin.

Tyson leads the way with 9.4 rebounds per game, and Hall is at 5.4 boards a contest, plus a team-high 40 offensive rebounds.

Defense

Clemson is allowing 68.3 points per game, with opposing teams shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 33.5 percent on three-pointers.

Tyson has a team-high 28 steals and Hall has 24 blocks for the Tigers.

Depth

Clemson went deeper than most ACC teams with five players coming off the bench against Syracuse. The five played between 5-and-11 minutes, with senior wing Hemenway, freshman guard Dillon Hunter and freshman forward Wiggins logging double minutes.

Hemenway is averaging 7.3 points in 19 minutes per game, and as previously mentioned, he’s a sniper from three-point land. He’s 31 of 68 from beyond the arc.

Clemson senior forward Hunter Tyson is a great example of what an extra COVID year could do to a career.

Tyson was a year younger than his grade in high school at Monroe (N.C.) Piedmont High, and played with CP3 traveling team. The Rivals.com three-star prospect narrowed it down to Clemson and Davidson, with Michigan, Wake Forest, Tennessee, Charlotte and Elon in the mix. The then 6-6, 180-pounder picked the Tigers and has slowly gotten all five years.

He went from averaging 1.6 points in 8.3 minutes per game in 2018-19, to now leading Tigers in points (15.8), rebounding (9.4) and three-pointers made (67). The now listed 6-8 and 215-pounder wore out NC State with 31 points, 15 rebounds and he went 4 of 5 on three-pointers in the first meeting.

Tyson is fresh off of getting 29 points, 10 rebounds and six three-pointers in the win over Syracuse. He also had 28 points and and 11 boards in the 83-70 win over Louisville on Jan. 11. Tyson has reached double figures in points in all but three games this season, and he has 13 double-doubles for points and rebounds.

Tyson didn’t have the same kind of success last year against the Wolfpack. He combined for 12 points and 14 rebounds and went 0 of 4 on three-pointers in two meetings.

NC State

PG — 1 Jarkel Joiner (6-1, 180, R-Sr., 17.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.3 spg)

SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 165, Soph., 17.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.6 spg)

G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, R-Jr., 12.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 1.2 spg)

PF — 23 Greg Gantt (6-8, 215, R-Jr., 1.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.3 apg)

C — 30 D.J. Burns (6-9, 275, R-Jr., 12.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 1.6 apg)

Clemson

PG — 1 Chase Hunter (6-3, 204, Jr., 14.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.5 apg)

SG — 11 Brevin Galloway (6-2, 215, Sr., 11.0 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.5 apg)

SF — 5 Hunter Tyson (6-8, 215, Sr., 15.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.0 spg)

PF — 4 Ian Schieffelin (6-7, 225, Soph., 4.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.9 apg)

C — 24 PJ Hall (6-10, 240, Jr., 15.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.0 apg)

11 Players out of 12 on the Clemson roster who were recruited out of high school. Former Charleston and Boston College guard Brevin Galloway is the lone transfer.

28 Assists on 34 made field goals in the win over Syracuse on Wednesday.

79.4 Percentage at the free-throw line for the Tigers, which leads the ACC and is fourth nationally.

Junior center PJ Hall is playing some of his best ball the last five games.

Hall had a season-high 28 points and eight rebounds in the 83-73 loss at Louisville on Feb. 18. He has reached at least 20 points in nine games — including having 26 in a 72-64 win vs. Duke on Jan. 14 — and he has three double-doubles for points and rebounds.

Hall is second on the Tigers with 15.2 points per game, plus 5.4 rebounds and an assist a contest. He is shooting 52.7 percent from the field, 38.6 percent on three-pointers and 80.6 percent at the free-throw line.

Hall was productive in both wins against NC State last year. He had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in the 70-64 win vs. the Wolfpack in the ACC Tournament on March 8, 2022. He had 20 points, five rebounds and four blocks in the regular season matchup.

The 6-10, 240-pounder from Roebuck (S.C.) Dorman High was ranked No. 48 overall in the class of 2020 by Rivals.com.

The 6-9, 275-pound Burns, who is from Rock Hill, S.C., is averaging 12.8 points and 5.0 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game for NC State this season. He fouled out against Clemson on Dec. 30, finishing with five and six rebounds in 18 minutes of action.

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