CLEMSON — With three games remaining in the regular season, Clemson has fought its way back into the top four of the ACC.

Coupled with Wake Forest’s loss at Notre Dame and the Tigers’ hard-fought 69-62 victory over Pittsburgh Tuesday at Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson is now tied with the Demon Deacons for fourth place in the ACC standings.

What does that mean?

It means if Clemson wins its remaining three games at Notre Dame (Saturday), vs. Syracuse (March 5) and at Wake Forest (March 9), it will be locked in as a top 4 seed. The Tigers could earn as high as the No. 3 seed in next month’s ACC Tournament, as Virginia is just one game ahead of them in the standings.

The top 4 seeds in the ACC standings earn a double bye in the tournament.

“This win was big. Obviously, we have been tied with Pitt and now we have to go back on the road,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “Notre Dame is one of the best defensive teams. I have watched their film a lot this year. Micah (Shrewsberry) is doing a terrific job. They play extremely hard. They are hard to beat because they are hard to score against, so that will be a challenge.

“This obviously keeps positive momentum going, which is really good.”

QUIET LEADER

Once again Jack Clark showed off his skill set in the Tigers’ win over Pitt.

What did the graduate forward do?

He shut down one of the ACC’s best scorers in Blake Hinson, as he limited the 18.1 points per game scorer to six points on 2 of 9 shooting. Hinson, who went off on the Tigers for 27 points back on Dec. 3, was 0-for-4 from three-point range.

Clark also had nine defensive rebounds. On the offensive end, he scored just two points and had one assist, but that one assist was huge.

He sealed the victory when he threw a perfect football pass to Ian Schieffelin for a two-hand-dunk following a missed free throw from Pitt’s Carlton Carrington with 30 seconds to play.

“How about the pass (Clark) made? That was a terrific pass, right? You don’t even think about it, but that was a huge play,” Brownell said.

The dunk gave the Tigers a 68-61 lead.

“That was awesome. I got it and I was ready to dunk it,” Schieffelin said. “I was hoping no one was coming behind me and I was just ready to dunk it as hard as I could.”

PLAYING THROUGH PAIN

Schieffelin finished the evening with 15 points and 12 rebounds, his eighth career double-double, while PJ Hall added 12 points and had 10 rebounds in what was a very productive night for Clemson’s post players.

However, it did not start off that way. Schieffelin and Hall combined to score just seven points in the first half. The two were sluggish in the first 20 minutes because it took them a while to get their legs under them after not practicing the last couple of days.

If fact, due to some nagging injuries they would not discuss, Schieffelin and Hall have practiced very little the last few weeks.

“We have been getting a lot of mental reps lately and staying focused on our goals and doing what we can for the team, even though we can’t do as much as we would like,” Schieffelin said.

Hall said. “stuff just happens” and when it is this late in the season they just have to do what they can to get through the pain.

“We are just big guys playing a lot and getting beat up,” the Tigers’ senior leader said. “Sadly, Bas [Leyte] is out and so not having that guy play seven minutes for us, it is tough. He is fighting to get back, so it is just because we are playing a lot and getting banged on. It is just wear and tear.

“We are both fine. We went out there and played thirty minutes tonight. Winning is the most important part.”

TIGERS HAVE TURNED UP THE HEAT

Clemson turned things up a notch in the second half, especially on the defense side of the court. For a third straight game—all wins by the way—the Tigers smothered their opponent.

The Panthers (18-10, 9-8) connected on just 28.1 percent of their second half shots and were just 2 of 15 from behind the arc.

Pitt made five of its first six three-pointers to start the night but missed 11 straight after that and made just two of its last 19 attempts. The Panthers were 28 percent overall from behind the arc.

“I am so proud of our guys for being able to guard them as well as we did,” Brownell said. “The crazy stat in the game is they took sixty-one shots and we got forty-eight. So, they got thirteen more shots. That is really a recipe for success.

“So, with too many turnovers and they got some offensive rebounds too, and they did not turn the ball over, it is hard to beat teams like that. You really have to fight defensively, which means you really have to get a lot more stops, which we did and that is why we won.”

UP NEXT

Clemson will hit the road and head to South Bend, Ind., and try to make it four straight wins when it takes on Notre Dame on Saturday. Tip is set for 7:45 pm on the CW.

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