The Clemson Tigers (2-0) made quick work of the North Carolina A&T Aggies (1-1) on Sunday afternoon in Littlejohn Coliseum on Sunday Afternoon winning by a score of 87-63. This was the first ever meeting between the Tigers and the Aggies from the MEAC conference who put up a fight with the Tigers in the first half before a 12-3 Clemson run extended the Tiger lead to 12 at the half. Clemson would pull away with an 11-0 second half run to put the contest away and leaving with a 24 point victory.
The Tigers were led on the day by a pair of Seniors in Gabe DeVoe and Donte Grantham. DeVoe was the sparkplug for the Tigers on the day, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, and added 10 rebounds (5 offensive), 5 assists and 3 steals to round out his stat sheet. DeVoe’s two three-point field goals came against the Aggie zone, which quickly prompted them to return to man defense. Grantham was the Tigers leading scorer on the day scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the Tigers on the glass. Grantham was much more active in the paint on the day, as he fired only three 3-pointers on the day and attacked the basket, which is something we didn’t see from the Senior in the past two seasons. All five of Clemson’s starters finished in double figures as Marcquise Lee and Elijiah Thomas both added 13 points while Shelton Mitchell rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points and 6 assists on the day.
Defensively, the Tigers athleticism was no match for the Aggies as they dominated the paint and outrebounded North Carolina A&T 45-22. A team that has most of its success on the fast break, the Aggies didn’t score their first transition points until there were less than five minutes remaining in the first half, and the Tigers held the Aggies to 40.4% shooting from the field, compared to the Tigers 55.9% shooting on the day. A particular area to watch out for was some sloppy play by the Tigers as they committed 13 turnovers on the day while causing only 7 from the Aggies. Clemson had their concerns about their ability to rebound this season, but have outrebounded their opponents 84-54 through two games this season.
The Tigers will be off until Thursday when they travel to Charleston for the Charleston Classic where they will play three games in four days, starting with Ohio at 5pm on Thursday. The Charleston Classic bracket features Auburn, Temple, Dayton and Indiana State. Stay tuned to Shakin the Southland for all of your Charleston Classic coverage.