Aamir Simms had a double-double against Morehead St. (Photo: Joshua S Kelly / USATODAY)

by Tony Crumpton - Assoc. Editor - Mon Dec 21 14:06:53 GMT-04:00 2020

Add another win for the Tigers.

Clemson (6-1, 0-1 ACC) had a fairly easy time inside Littlejohn Coliseum during their 66-51 win against Morehead State (4-5, 1-2 OVC) on Monday afternoon.

One of the main keys of the win was the 21 turnovers forced by Clemson including 13 in the first half (Tigers had only 11 total) that led to 21 points.

The Tigers created some separation with an impressive 18-3 run to close out the first half. The halftime score was 32-19 in favor of Clemson.

Clemson's defense was on lockdown mode as Morehead State has zero field goals during the last 6:46 before halftime.

"This was a good win right before Christmas," he said to the media in his postgame interview. "We're ready to go home, recharge, and get ready for conference play."

Individually, senior forward Aamir Simms registered his sixth double-double of the career (12 points and 10 rebounds) and the first one this season.

Guards Nick Honor and Al-Amir Dawes had 14 points (4-for-5 from deep) and 12 points respectively.

Bench play was also huge for the Tigers as they got 34 points from the second string including nine points from sophomore guard Alex Hemenway.

Clemson is now 2-0 lifetime against Morehead State.

Next up for the Tigers is a home game against No. 21 Florida State on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.

Head Coach Brad Brownell’s Postgame Quotes

Opening statement:

"I thought we guarded well throughout the game. We guarded Morehead State's post players particularly well. We did a nice job of getting defensive rebounds, and we created turnovers. I thought our defense in the first half was really good. In games like that, the team playing from behind is more relaxed, and Morehead State played that way in the second half. But we made enough plays on offense to keep our lead in double digits."

On playing against a zone defense:

"Morehead State did a good job in their zone. It was active. I thought we were a little bit on our heels because of it. Obviously, we practiced against it, and it was good for us to play against the zone."

On Clemson's top performers: