Clemson pulls away from Sam Houston State for 74-59 win

Marcquise Reed scored 26 points and Clemson turned away Sam Houston State with a 74-59 win Wednesday night.

Shelton Mitchell added 13 points for the Tigers, with Aamir Simms chipping in 12 points and 8 rebounds.

Clemson led by 8 on two different occasions in the first half but couldn’t break away from the Bearkats, who took the lead momentarily before Mitchell buried a three just before halftime to give the Tigers a 2-point lead heading into the locker room.

The game went back and forth from there, with Sam Houston tying things at 41 on a three-pointer by R.J. Smith with 14:13 to play.

Over the next two and a half minutes, Clemson used a 12-0 run fueled by Reed and Mitchell to finally separate from the Bearkats, eventually pulling away for a 15-point win.

While Reed, Mitchell, and Simms combined for two-thirds of the scoring, the Tigers got at least one basket from every player that entered the game and shot 53% from the floor as a team.

Eli Thomas was battling the flu and scored just three points, but he at least managed to pull down five rebounds.

Kai Mitchell led the way for Sam Houston with 14 points. Clemson held Cameron Delaney, the Bearkats’ leading scorer, to just 7 points.

The Tigers moved to 3-0 on the season and will begin tournament play in the Cayman Islands Classic on Monday at 11 a.m. against Akron.