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The Clemson Tigers won their fifth straight ACC game, taking down the Miami Hurricanes 66-58 at home on Saturday afternoon.
The win, coach Brad Brownell’s 200th with the program and Clemson’s longest in-conference win streak since 1990, wouldn’t have been possible without the combined efforts of Aamir Simms and Al-Amir Dawes. The duo of Simms and Dawes combined to scored 38 points on 15/21 from the field including a red-hot 7/8 from deep.
With the Tigers trailing after the U-12 timeout as a result of an offensive cold stretch, Simms took it upon himself to attack the paint, scoring a jump hook over two Miami defenders to cut their deficit to 19-16. Next possession, a Simms offensive rebound set up a kick out to Dawes who knocked in the triple and the Tigers were off. Dawes stole the ball for a transition layup and the Tigers took the lead 22-21. He followed that with another triple and another steal into a fastbreak layup, for 10 straight Clemson points on four possessions.
Simms and Dawes scored 17 of the Tigers' final 20 first-half points and a fancy finish by Nick Honor to beat the buzzer gave the Tigers a three-point lead heading into the break.
A less-than-snappy defensive performance in the first allowed Miami to keep the game close, but Clemson came out with energy and focus in the second half, allowing them to expand their lead. The Tigers finished with nine steals, six of which came in the second half as a result of their activity on the defensive end.
Hurricanes sophomore Isaiah Wong, who finished with a game-high 28 points, managed to keep his team afloat until midway through the second half when reinforcements arrived for Simms and Dawes. With Clemson nursing a three-point lead and Wong on fire, Dawes knocked in a deep triple; two possessions later after a steal from Simms, Hunter Tyson knocked in a three of his own, to push Clemson’s lead to nine with just over 10 minutes to play. Tyson was the third Tiger to finish in double figures, scoring 10 points, including nine in the second half of the ballgame.
Miami cut the deficit to three one last time, but a Nick Honor layup and made free throws iced the ballgame for Clemson.
This win is especially big because it puts Clemson back in the top four of the ACC standings, which would mean a double-bye to the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship. The Tigers are back in action this Wednesday against Syracuse.