Hunter rains on the Canes, leads #Clemson to 77-60 victory (AUDIO)

**Chase Hunter lines up one of his five three pointers against Miami (Travis Bell/SIDELINE CAROLINA)**

Littlejohn Coliseum: Clemson has not been a great long-range shooting team at home, hovering around 30% from behind the 3-point line at Littlejohn Coliseum entering its Valentine’s Day matchup with Miami (FL). But the Tigers rediscovered their stroke, Wednesday, knocking down 13 shots from deep in a 77-60 victory over the Hurricanes. Chase Hunter gave Miami fits, making 5 of 8 from beyond the arc and scoring a season-high 20 points.

The Tigers played great defense early, forcing multiple turnovers, but struggled to limit their own mistakes. Joseph Girard, III had the hot hand in the first half, leading all scorers with 10 points at intermission.

Clemson jumped out to a 31-24 lead with three minutes left in the first half, but couldn’t make a shot for the rest of the half. Miami hit two big threes to cut the deficit to one going into the break. P.J. Hall was limited to one field goal attempt and three points in the first half.

The second half started slowly for both clubs and the Hurricanes took a 38-35 lead before Clemson’s 6-0 run jolted the crowd into a frenzy and vaulted the Tigers back in front. Miami answered with a 9-0 run to retake the lead.

Clemson went five minutes without a basket until Ian Schieffelin (5 points, 11 rebounds) hit a huge three and Josh Beadle hit a running floater to pull Clemson within one at 54-53. Hunter went on a personal 7-0 run and a fast break layup from Jack Clark (8 points) gave Clemson a five-point lead.

Girard got fouled on a 3-point attempt and knocked down all three free throws to stretch the lead to 65-47 with four minutes remaining. Moments later, Hall threw down a vicious one-handed slam for a nine-point lead. Clark’s turnaround jumper stretched the advantage to 11 with 1:58 left, forcing a Miami timeout.

With just over a minute to play, Schieffelin scrapped for an offensive rebound. The extra possession led to a corner three from Hall (13 points), effectively putting the game on ice.

The final score does not tell the whole story as it was a back-and-forth affair until Clemson blew the game open late with a 3-point barrage. Meanwhile, Miami failed to score over the last 3:54. Hunter’s second half explosion helped him lead all scorers with 20 points. Girard was 5-for- 5 from the foul line and finished with 18 points.

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell on how his club having a good night from the perimeter fueled their defensive effort, “We’ve had some tough days shooting in here and making some shots changes everything. A couple of three’s go in and it gives your guys a little more juice to guard.”

The Tigers will look to make it four wins in a row when they play host to NC State this weekend. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m., Saturday.

Story by Brooks Thomason