Chase Hunter's first half efforts enough to power Clemson opener victory |
CLEMSON - The Tigers entered the opener with some offseason rust.
Chase Hunter’s 15 first-half points helped buff out some early smudges. Clemson faced early stiff resistance from Charleston Southern, but an 11-0 run to close out the first half was more than enough for a resounding opening win, 91-64. Brad Brownell entered Monday night knowing it would take time for his defensive philosophy to mesh with a new-look roster throughout the season. Against the Buccaneers, that defense appeared to be ahead of schedule. The Tigers relentlessly attacked the Charleston Southern offense, recording six blocks and nine steals. Jaeden Zackery quickly became the defensive ringleader, following any opposing traveler to the halfcourt with consistent pursuit. He was responsible for three of Clemson’s nine steals. Brownell believes Zackery's defensive edge set the tone for the evening. "Yes, excellent job," Brownell said. "First thing I said at halftime was I thought Jaeden was doing an unbelievable job on the ball on Johnson. We did a good job of bullying ball screens and really fighting through and just trying to wear down a good player, and Jaeden certainly did that. He set a tone for us. Dale came in and did some nice things that way. He helped us at the point of attack." Those steals quickly led to points, with the Tigers cashing in on 19 points off of 18 Buccaneer turnovers. On the other end, Clemson only gave up the ball seven times on the evening. Much like the defensive side, Brownell knows it will take time for the identity to take shape, but the Tigers found a way to find plenty of success. Foster had a strong debut for Clemson, logging 17 points in his first game in Littlejohn, tying for a team-high with Chase Hunter. He also added two three-pointers, doubling his total makes from deep at Illinois State in 2023. The Illinois State transfer led the way for 40 bench points on the night, outscoring Charleston Southern by 27 beyond the starting five. Brownell saw those contributions incredibly valuable to the evening's success. Yeah, I mean, he's done a nice job for us," Brownell said. "He's got a knack for scoring around the basket area. 15 feet, 16 feet. He's worked hard to make threes. He started working on it in the spring when we were recruiting him. We've continued to work with him, and we do a lot of shooting stuff and have encouraged him that. We've given him the green light. He's got some confidence with it. And those were big-time shots. There's no hesitation. I mean, he's put in the time, and his numbers have improved dramatically. So he's becoming a confident offensive shooter, which is really good for our team." Viktor Lakhin added 12 points, and Chauncey Wiggins contributed eight points, leading to a balanced offensive attack. Jake Heidbreder added 9 points in the second half. His offensive explosion came exclusively from beyond the arc, hitting three of his four shots. Clemson shot 49.2 percent from the field (32-65), nailing 52.4 percent of its three-pointers. The Tigers also found a distinct advantage on the foul line. Charleston Southern only converted on 13 of its 27 shots from the foul line. Conversely, Clemson sunk 66.7 percent of its opportunities from the charity stripe. Clemson will look to make it two in a row against Saint Francis University at 7:00 p.m. Friday on the ACC Network Extra.
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