Notre Dame converted two late Clemson turnovers into baskets, and that was enough for the Irish to hold off the Tigers down the stretch of a 61-57 win at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Irish rallied from seven points down in the second half to hand the Tigers their third straight loss. Clemson falls to 11-12 overall and 5-8 in the ACC.

Inside the Clemson loss to Notre Dame

• Two turnovers in the final 3:30 stymied the Tigers’ chances as the Irish converted those miscues into 5 points. The game was tied at 50. TJ Gibbs put Notre Dame up 52-50, and after a Clyde Trapp turnover, Rex Pflueger hit a jumper for a 54-50 lead. Trey Jamison responded with a dunk to cut the lead to 54-52. Two possessions later, the Tigers came down the floor with a chance to tie or take the lead, but Al-Amir Dawes turned it over in the lane and Pflueger nailed a three on the other end. The Tigers never had the ball again with a chance to tie or take the lead.
• Clemson played without leading Aamir Simmons who had the flu. Indiana native Alex Hemenway helped make up for his absence with a career high 16 points off the bench, including 4 three-pointers. Tevin Mack also had 16 points. They were the only Tigers in double figures.
• During the three game losing streak, Clemson has not scored 60 points. The Tigers shot 36% against the Irish. The Tigers have not hit 40% of their shots once during their three game skid.
• The Tigers did an excellent job defensively against the ACC’s second highest scoring team in league play at 77 points per game. They limited the Irish to 4 offensive rebounds and 2 second chance points.
• Pflueger led the Irish with 18 points, including 4-4 from distance. Notre Dame hit 10 three pointers. John Mooney had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
• The Tigers saw their four game home winning streak come to an end. They next play Wednesday night at Pitt.
• The Fighting Irish have won four straight to get back to .500 in the league at 6-6. They are 15-8 overall and will play at Virginia Tuesday night.
• Final Stats

Brad Brownell postgame press conference