Clemson dominated the Alabama A&M Bulldogs from the opening tip and cruised to a 87-51 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum, Thursday. Senior guard Tevin Mack led the first-half charge, scoring 14 of his 16 points in the opening stanza. Mack’s hot start propelled the Tigers to a 54-19 halftime lead, the most points scored in a first half under coach Brad Brownell. Any illusions the Bulldogs had about hanging with the Tigers were shattered by a 23-0 run initiated by the second of Al-Amir Dawes’ three 3-pointers.

Dawes scored a game-high 19 points, making 3 of 6 3-point attempts and 7 of 11 shots overall. Alabama A&M had no answer defensively as Clemson burned up the nets, shooting 59% from behind the 3-point arc in building its insurmountable lead. The Tigers shot 62% from the field in the first half and 53% for the game.

Alabama A&M was also overwhelmed by Clemson’s post play. The Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 40-16 in the paint. Sophomore center Trey Jamison hit his first five shots from the field and scored 10 points in just 16 minutes. Jemison also protected the rim, blocking four shots.

Brownell was impressed with his team’s focus, “We wanted to come out and dictate the way the game was going to be played in the first 8 to 10 minutes and we did that.”

Clemson (4-1) is next in action against TCU in Las Vegas, Sunday. It will be Clemson’s first game away from Littlejohn Coliseum this season. The Tigers matchup with the Horned Frogs is part of the MGM Resorts Main Event and will tip at 10:30 EST. Clemson will square off with either Colorado or Wyoming as part of the same event, Tuesday.

Final stats

Brad Brownell postgame press conference