Honor’s hot start propels Clemson to rout of Temple

Nick Honor scored 14 points in the first six minutes, and his teammates soon followed suit as Clemson turned a once-competitive game into a 75-48 blowout win over Temple in the opening round of the Charleston Classic.

Honor finished with 19 points on 7-of-7 shooting including 4 of 4 from 3-point range, his early flurry proving to be a harbinger of good offensive things to come for the Tigers. PJ Hall and Hunter Tyson chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively, and Clemson got 23 points from its bench as numerous lineups proved capable of keeping the production on track.

Temple started fast as well, knocking down 7 of its first 10 field-goal attempts, but when the shots stopped falling the Owls had no answer for Clemson’s defense. The Tigers held leading scorer Khalif Battle (24 ppg) to just five points and Temple to 36-percent shooting and a 4-for-20 mark from beyond the arc.

When the Owls finally lost their shooting touch midway through the first half, Clemson stretched its then-narrow lead to a 38-26 margin at halftime.

The Tigers picked up where they left off after the break, using a 15-4 run to sprint to a 23-point lead and burying any hope Temple had for a comeback. The Owls never got closer than 20 the rest of the way.

Clemson, for its part, shot better than 50 percent from the field and from 3-point range in an efficient offensive performance. David Collins pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Tigers, who also got three assists apiece from four of their five starters.

Clemson will take on No. 22 St. Bonaventure in a semifinal game tomorrow at approx. 2:30 p.m.