The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee did not deem Clemson worthy of an at-large bid to their tournament. The Tigers showed Wednesday night they weren’t worthy of the #1 seed bestowed upon them by the NIT Committee falling to Morehead State 68-64 at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers end their season with a 23-11 record. The Eagles move on with a 22-11 record.
Clemson built a 15 point lead 29-14 with 8:29 left in the half, and it appeared the Tigers were prepared to blow the Eagles out of Littlejohn. But Morehead went on 20-3 run to end the half and trailed just 34-32 at the break. The Tigers made just one of their last 11 shots to close out the first twenty minutes.
The second half was tight all the way. Clemson’s largest lead was seven points, and the Tigers led until the Eagles tied the game at 52-52 with 5:53 left. It was tied again at 55 when the Eagles took the lead for good on a three by Mark Freeman with 3:42 left.
Morehead built the lead to seven. The Tigers got back to within a basket three times but each time the Eagles responded to make it a two-possession game. Freeman hit four straight free throws over the final eight seconds to keep the Tigers at bay.
Three-point shooting and free throws were the big difference in the game. Morehead made 11 deep shots to Clemson’s six. Brevin Galloway made just 1-10 from three-point range, and in the second half, Clemson was 1-11 behind the three-point line.
At the four line, Morehead was 15-16, including 13-14 in the second half, compared to the Tigers’ 8-14 for the game.
Chase Hunter led Clemson with 18 points. PJ Hall scored all 13 of his points in the second half, and he also grabbed seven rebounds. And Hunter Tyson closed out his outstanding career with nine points and 14 rebounds. Freeman, the OVC Player of the Year, led all scorers with 19 points.
Final Stats
