ACC Basketball: Clemson 78, Wake Forest 58

Associated Press

WINSTON-SALEM — Just a few field goals were the difference in Clemson losing its last three ACC games.

No such problems Saturday, as Tanner Smith had 20 points and five assists to help the Tigers pull away for a 78-58 victory over Wake Forest.

Smith hit 8-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, as Clemson (12-12, 4-6) snapped a three-game losing streak by completing a season sweep.

“We just haven’t always executed like we needed to,” Smith said. “But when we get our offense clicking and make some stops, we can get things going. We can look at this game as a stepping stone for us, and hope that we can string some wins together because of it.”

The Tigers had lost their last three league games by a total of eight points — 65-61 at Virginia on Jan. 31, 67-64 at Virginia Tech on Feb. 4 and 64-62 to Maryland on Tuesday.

But Clemson had no such scoring problems on Saturday, as the Tigers used a 20-3 run over the first and second halves to end a challenge from Wake Forest (11-14, 2-9).

“We had one of those nights where we shot really well,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “Obviously that makes everything a lot easier.”

Milton Jennings added 15 points and Andre Young 12 for the Tigers, who ended an 18-game losing streak on the Demon Deacons’ home court.

C.J. Harris scored 18 points, Travis McKie had 13 and Nikita Mescheriakov added 12 for Wake Forest, which has now lost six straight ACC games — all by double digits — and nine of its last 10.

“Obviously, we are embarrassed,” Demon Deacons head coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “Yeah, we’ve gone through a tough stretch here, and our confidence has been rattled. But we need to rise above that and stay confident as best we can. That’s the challenge, no question.”

The Demon Deacons kept it close — eight lead changes, eight ties — by hitting 15 of 15 from the free throw line.

“I bet half of those weren’t on drives on the basket or fast breaks, it was just a little bit of undisciplined play,” Brownell said. “We cut some of that out and we made shots, and just played better.”

Wake Forest last led when two free throws by Chase Fischer with 2:23 left in the first half put the Demon Deacons ahead 36-34. But Clemson closed out the half with eight unanswered points for a 42-36 halftime lead, then opened the second half with a 12-3 run to push the Tigers’ lead into double digits.

“That was big,” said Smith, who hit a jumper and layup during the eight-point run. “It’s tough to watch the other team shoot free throws ... but we kept our composure and stayed focused, and did what we had to do.”

Clemson pulled ahead by as many as 23 points twice in the second half, the last at 76-53 on a Devin Booker free throw with 4:25 remaining.

After trailing by seven points in the opening minutes, Wake Forest rallied to take its first lead at 11-9 on a Harris jumper with 12:03 left. Four minutes later, Harris’ three-point play would kick off a 9-2 run that gave the Demon Deacons their biggest lead of the half, 26-19 with 6:10 remaining.

However, the Tigers rallied to tie the score at 26-26 on Jennings’ layup with 4:55 left. Clemson then swapped the lead with Wake Forest six times before closing out the half with the eight-point run.

“I was really proud of the guys,” Brownell said. “I told them at halftime that this could have been an issue where we hung our heads a little bit, and it could have been an issue where the game was slipping away. But the guys hung in and battled.”

The Associated Press

02/11/12 19:38