MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said he needed his guards to be efficient if the Tigers were going to make some noise.
When Chase Hunter and Joe Girard play efficiently for the sixth-seeded Tigers, they are nearly unbeaten. And though that is true, it goes a little deeper. When Hunter plays the way he did in Clemson’s first-round win over New Mexico, the Tigers almost never lose.
Against the Lobos on Friday, Hunter scored a game-high 21 points and produced a game-high six assists, while also grabbing three rebounds, helping on one blocked shot and getting two steals. More importantly, he turned the ball over just one time.
If Clemson (22-11) wants to knock off No. 3 seed Baylor tonight (6:10, TNT) at the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn., it will need a similar performance from the Clemson guard.
“I think he’s certainly one of the drivers, but I think we have a lot of guys that in these games you need multiple guys playing well,” Brownell said. “One of the things about Baylor that’s so impressive, it seems like they have five guys — it might even be six guys — that average double figures and all between 10 and 14 points a game. It’s a little bit, all right, ‘which one are we trying to stop.’ It’s hard.”
Ja’Kobe Walter, RayJ Dennis, Jalen Bridges, Yves Missi, Langston Love and Jayden Nunn all average at least 10.7 points per game for the Bears, with Walter leading the way at 14.4 points.
Baylor (25-10) is averaging 80.9 points per game.
“And that’s why they’re really good, is when you have multiple guys that can have good games – (Friday) night it was Ian Schieffelin (for us) with 16 (points) and 12 (rebounds), and certainly Chase. And you almost forget about PJ having 14 (points),” Brownell said. “But our guys all have roles. I think when we’re playing our best, everybody’s contributing well. And it takes that to beat the quality of opponent that you’re going to face at this time of the year.”
But it is Hunter who drives the Clemson offense and when he plays like he did against Boston College in the ACC Tournament, when he scored just two points and was 0-for-10 from the field, things usually do not go well for the Tigers.
However, Clemson is 22-4 when its senior guard plays well and is driving the offense.
“He and I met and talked briefly and just talked about things that happened when he’s playing well, and giving him reasons to believe that (Boston College) was more of an accident than anything else,” Brownell said. “And then sometimes, when you’ve had some poor performances, here are some things that seem to be sticking out in those poor performances. And here are things that stick out when you play well.
“You’re not going to be able to account for shot making, and things of that nature, but maybe some other things you can. So, we met and talked about a lot of things and just tried to reassure him a little bit. A guy with his ability is a confident guy. And so, we believed he would play well in this tournament.”
And if Hunter does tonight, Clemson could punch its ticket to the Sweet 16.
–photo by Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports
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