Clemson’s men’s basketball team is coming back to South Carolina with first place in its possession.

Chase Hunter scored 17 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final minute, and the Tigers rallied to continue their unbeaten start to ACC play with a 75-74 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday at the Petersen Events Center. The teams began the day tied atop the league standings, but sole possession now belongs to the Tigers (13-3, 5-0 ACC), who erased an eight-point deficit down the stretch to continue their best start in league play since also winning their first five ACC games of the 1996-97 season.

“Terrific win for our team,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.

Clemson trailed 67-59 with less than 6 minutes left but used a 12-2 run over the next 3 minutes and change to take a one-possession lead on Brevin Galloway’s jumper. Jamarius Burton, who poured in a game-high 28 points for Pitt (11-5, 4-1), answered with a tying bucket before Hunter put the Tigers ahead for good with a mid-range jumper with 45 seconds left.

After Hunter Tyson sank a pair of free throws to push Clemson’s lead to 75-71, Pitt made a 3-pointer with less than 2 seconds left to make things interesting. But the Tigers inbounded the ball to run out the rest of the clock on their second Quad 1 victory of the week after winning at Virginia Tech three days earlier.

“Just thought our guys played exceptional down the stretch to find a way to win a game,” Brownell said.

Tyson notched his fourth straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and PJ Hall pulled down a season-high 10 boards to go with 12 points. Galloway also added 12 points for Clemson, which shot 47% from the field and 75% from the free-throw line to offset Pitt’s 11 3-pointers. The Tigers, who attempted just 17 shots from beyond the 3-point arc, outscored Pitt 34-14 in the paint.

Clemson held Pitt to 40% shooting from the field. Blake Hinson (14 points) was the only other Panther to score more than 11 points.

“(Pitt) has got a really good team that plays very well together and very hard,” Brownell said. “They’re really hard to guard, and we had to play at a very high level to win. Thankfully we have some older guys, and our older guys played extremely well down the stretch.

“We’re really happy and obviously ecstatic to come out of here with a win.”

Nate Santos’ buzzer beater put Pitt up 40-38 at the half, but it was Burton whom the Tigers had trouble containing early. Tyson led the Tigers with 10 first-half points, but Pitt’s senior guard poured in 14 in the first half to help the Panthers erase a 10-point deficit in the first 20 minutes.

Burton made four of his first seven shots, including a trio of 3-pointers. Clemson outscored Pitt 20-4 in the paint in the opening half, but Burton’s hot shooting along with 10 points from Hinson helped the Panthers offset the Tigers’ advantage inside early.

But Clemson continued to get looks closer to the basket and found the bottom of the bucket on most of them. Hunter’s go-ahead basket late was an aggressive drive into the middle of the lane before the Tigers’ junior guard pulled up over the Panthers’ defense.

“We’ve gone to a bigger lineup after our Loyola(-Chicago) loss, and I think it’s been helpful for us defensively,” Brownell said. “It’s made it us physically stronger and better at rebounding and around the rim. And I think our guys are mature enough to understand how we’re being played and look to make the right play.”

Now the Tigers will take their longest winning streak of the season (5) into Wednesday’s game against Louisville at Littlejohn Coliseum.

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