The loss of its starting point guard and some uncharacteristic defense halted Clemson’s momentum late Tuesday night.

There are no more unbeatens in ACC play after No. 19 Clemson dropped an 87-77 decision at Wake Forest. Without their second-leading scorer and floor general, the Tigers (15-4, 7-1 ACC) couldn’t generate enough offense to keep up, shooting just 42% from the floor in their first loss since Dec. 10.

Chase Hunter, who’s averaging 14 points and 4.2 assists on the season, didn’t play after recently sustaining a foot injury. Redshirt freshman Josh Beadle got the start in his place and scored eight points with two turnovers and a rebound but fouled out after playing just 15 minutes.

PJ Hall led the Tigers with 22 points while Hunter Tyson notched his sixth double-double in seven games with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Brevin Galloway added 14 points. Freshman Chauncey Wiggins chipped in a season-high 10 while playing his most extended minutes of the season, but the Demon Deacons (14-5, 6-2) scored more points against Clemson than any conference opponent has to this point.

Wake Forest, which avenged a 20-point loss to Clemson back on Dec. 2 to improve to 10-0 at home, got a game-high 23 points from Tyree Appleby and 17 apiece from Cam Hildreth and Damari Monsanto. Clemson came in ranked in the top 4 in the ACC in points allowed and led the league in field-goal percentage defense (39.4), but Wake Forest blew past that with a 46% clip from the field. The Demon Deacons also made 22 of 33 free throws.

Clemson trailed by as many as 15 before making a run after shooting nearly 47% in the second half. Tyson’s three-point play made it a 77-71 game with 2:07 left, but the Tigers didn’t get any closer.

Hall scored 14 of his points in the first half, but the Tigers had few answers for a Wake Forest team that had three players reach double figures before the first 20 minutes were up. The Demon Deacons shot 50% from the floor in the opening half and led by as many as 11 before taking a 48-38 lead into the break.

Wake Forest scored the first five points of the second half and largely maintained its distance from there. Clemson shot just 29.6% from beyond the 3-point arc (8 of 27) and had nearly as many turnovers (11) as assists (13).

Now just a game ahead of the pack in the ACC, the Tigers will try to bounce back when they return to Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday against Virginia Tech, a rematch of Clemson’s 68-65 win in Blacksburg on Jan. 4.

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 

Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.

Dabo Swinney: “We need your assistance more than ever to provide meaningful NIL opportunities. Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives allow student-athletes to utilize their voice and platform to maximize their NIL opportunities and strengthen their impact in the community.”

Graham Neff:
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Join the Tiger Club or Lady Tiger Club to help these great student-athletes and help the Tigers compete at the highest level!