Inside the Numbers: 3-pointers are a major cause of Clemson's rough start in the ACC

Chase Hunter is 4-30 from 3-point range in ACC action.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Jan 17 12:30:14 GMT-04:00 2024

Clemson basketball suffered a heartbreaking double-overtime loss to Georgia Tech Tuesday night and now faces a tough stretch that includes a game against a hot Florida State team (10-6, 4-1 ACC) this Saturday (4 p.m./ACCN) and then at Duke (13-3, 4-1) next week.

It was during the game against the Yellow Jackets that I started watching the stats, and while the numbers don’t ever tell the entire story, they can provide some clarity. Let’s start with the numbers that were even:

*Both teams had 13 assists.

*Both teams had four blocks.

*Neither team scored great in transition – the Yellow Jackets had three points on the fast break, and Clemson had four.

*Georgia Tech had 12 turnovers and Clemson had ten turnovers. Clemson scored 14 off those turnovers, and the Yellow Jackets scored 10.

*Georgia Tech held a slight edge in defensive rebounds, 24-23.

Now let’s take a look at where the teams differed:

*Clemson (12-5, 2-4) outscored Georgia Tech (9-8, 2-4) 50-26 in the paint and collected 22 offensive rebounds to nine for the Jackets.

*That inside presence is reflected in free throws – Clemson went to the line 38 times (29-38, 76 percent) to just 20 (16-20, 80 percent) for the Jackets.

*Georgia Tech was 15-35 from 3-point range (42.9 percent), while the Tigers struggled beyond the arc at just 3-21 (14.3 percent). Joe Girard and PJ Hall were the only Tigers to make a 3-pointer – the rest of the team was 0-for-11, including 0-for-7 from guards Chase Hunter and Dillon Hunter.

*You can say that Clemson owned the inside advantage 50-26, but Tech owned it from outside at 45-9.

*Georgia Tech owned the bench points, 33-8. As of late, the Tigers aren’t getting a lot of help from the bench.

Some team stats to ponder:

*In the ACC, the Tigers are in rare territory – third in the league in scoring at 77.8 points per game in conference play. The Tigers are also the second-worst team in the league in giving up points at 81.3 points per game, just ahead of Georgia Tech.

*If you look at the overall season stats, Clemson is fifth in the ACC in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 35.8 percent (146-408). But in league play, the Tigers are dead last in 3-point field goal percentage, hitting just 42-145 (29 percent). The Tigers are also dead last in the ACC in defending the three – opponents have hit 65-154 (42 percent). In contrast, North Carolina leads the league in defending the three – opponents have hit 24-114 (21 percent).

*Chase Hunter is just 4-30 from 3-point range in league play.

Elsewhere, the Tigers are good-to-middle of the pack in turnovers, rebounds, free throws, assists to turnovers, etc. But it’s the lack of 3-point success and the lack of defense against the three that are the difference through these first games in January.

Clemson-GT box