Clemson Beats North Carolina, 80-79, to Advance to the Semifinals in the ACC Tournament

Clemson’s season took a twist late last night.

Coach Brownell had a full rebuild on his hands last offseason. Nearly the entire team was gone. Dillon Hunter, Ace Buckner, and Dallas Thomas remained. Zac Foster was the only true freshman who could make an immediate impact. The bulk of the team would be built through the portal, and that’s exactly what they did. By the end of the portal season frenzy, they had built a roster that looked talented enough to vie for a spot in the NCAA tournament. Through non-conference play, that estimation seemed about right. Wins over Georgia and West Virginia gave hope, but a loss to Georgetown and two painful, dramatic Quad 1 losses to BYU and Alabama tempered expectations.

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Then came conference play, and the Tigers raced out to a 10-1 start, with wins over Miami and SMU and a perfect 2-0 California road trip. Then Clemson lost five of six, which included a heartbreaker at North Carolina. They then ended the regular season with a not-so-satisfying close win over last-place Georgia Tech.

In Wednesday’s ACC Tournament action, Clemson outpaced Wake Forest with ease, but lost starting Center Carter Welling to a torn ACL. With the injury, it felt like another strong regular season would end with a whimper in postseason play. Last year, Clemson went 1-1 in the ACC Tournament and 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament in part because Dillon Hunter was injured in the first ACC Tournament game. This felt like de ja vu.

That made last night’s game in Charlotte against North Carolina all the more critical. Not only did it offer a potential chance to move off the scary 8/9 seed line and into a much more desirable 7-seed (in theory), but it also provided a chance to prove this team can beat NCAA tournament-quality teams without Carter Welling. Clemson has historically struggled in the ACC tournament. That’s probably an understatement, as Coach Brownell was 8-14 in the tournament before this season.

No longer able to play 10 players, the Tigers…

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Publish date : 2026-03-13 14:43:00

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