Dillon Hunter injury news confirmed

Dillon Hunter is out indefinitely with a broken hand. He scored 17 at FSU earlier this year.

Brandon Rink - Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer - 3 hours ago

Clemson confirmed its worst fears on the injury to starting guard Dillon Hunter in last night's 57-54 win over SMU.

Brad Brownell speculated postgame that the younger Hunter brother suffered a broken hand in the action, and that idea was confirmed after further examination, per a Clemson spokesman.

Hunter averaged 5.4 points, 1.9 assists and 0.9 steals over 22.5 minutes a game this season, more than doubling his points per game average year to year.

"It wasn't good," said Brownell postgame, "and obviously, it's a little bit of an emotional letdown for your team when the guy's been playing so hard, you get to this time of year, the time of year you want to play and it goes sideways.

"Dillon is like the ultimate glue guy for us. He's got an unbelievable assist-to-turnover ratio, he's an unbelievable defender, ball on and off the field, facilitator, and he doesn't need to score. He'll shoot an open shot. So he just kind of -- and he's experienced. I should say that, too."

Brownell said it brings opportunity for freshman Del Jones and transfer Jake Heidbreder.

"Del Jones is a freshman. He's going to get a few more minutes," Brownell said, "and he's kind of a jitter bug guard that's learning how to play. He gives you great energy. And then Jake Heidbreder, who's a little bit more of a three-point shooter, but they don't play like Dillon. So it's different.

"It's something we're going to have to adjust going forward, but certainly, it'll be a great opportunity for those other guys on our team."

One of Hunter's highlights came at Florida State where he scored 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

He was limited to eight minutes in Thursday's win over SMU due to the injury.

Clemson returns to action in the ACC Tournament semifinals against 2-seed Louisville Friday (9:30 pm ET).