CLEMSON, S.C. – Despite making it a two-point game midway through the second half, UNCG wasn't able to overcome a 21-point halftime deficit as the Spartans fell to Clemson, 71-61, on Sunday afternoon. The game was the final stop for UNCG on its three-game ACC road stand.
Korey Van Dussen paced the Spartans (0-10) as he delivered a career-high 20 points on 7-10 shooting, while also adding a career-high six assists and five rebounds. Trevis Simpson also set a new career-high with 16 points and seven boards. Aloysius Henry was in double figures for the ninth time this season with 10 points.
The Tigers (7-4) were led by Andre Young who had a game-high 22 points. Jerai Grant had the lone double-double of the game as he scored 19 points, 15 of those coming in the first half, and added 13 rebounds.
After trailing 37-16 at the break, the Spartans came storming out of the gates as Simpson threw down a highlight reel alley-oop from Van Dussen on the first play of the second half. After a steal by Drew Parker, Van Dussen converted a layup before sinking a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the next play to make it a 37-23 contest.
UNCG would cut the Tiger lead down to 13 on a pair of Van Dussen free throws before Clemson extended its lead to 49-31 on a Milton Jennings 3.
That would be the last basket for Clemson for nearly four minutes as the Spartans would go on a 16-0 run, eight of those coming from Simpson, to cut the Tiger lead to two at 49-47 with 9:08 remaining.
The Tigers would immediately answer with a 3-point from Tanner Smith in the right corner. Coming out of a media timeout, Kyle Randall found himself open from the top of the key and drained a 3-pointer of his own to cut it back to two at 52-50 with 7:18 left.
That was as close as the Spartans would get the rest of the contest as the Tigers went on a 15-2 run over the next five minutes to stretch their lead back out to 15 points. UNCG cut it back down to nine with 24 seconds left on a 3 from Brian Cole, but it wasn't enough.
Despite the large halftime deficit, the Spartans started the first half on a high note. Just over four minutes into the game, Randall hit a 3-pointer to give UNCG an early 7-4 lead and another 3 by Van Dussen made it 13-12 in favor of Clemson.
It was all Clemson the rest of the first half, though, as the Tigers ended the half on a 24-4 run over the final 11 and a half minutes to take a commanding lead into the break.
The 16 points scored in the opening half was just four points more than the lowest point total for a first half in school history. The Spartans shot just 6-28 in the first half for a 21.4 percent mark, as opposed to shooting 16-31 for 51.6 percent after intermission.
UNCG was outrebounded 24-11 in the first half, but bounced back to outrebound the Tigers 18-12 in the second half with seven of those 18 being on the offensive end.
The Spartans will return home for the first time in over two weeks on Wednesday as they kick off their five-game homestand by hosting Richmond for a noon contest in the Greensboro Coliseum.
AGATE
Clemson 71, UNCG 61
UNCG (0-10)
VAN DUSSEN, Korey 7-10 3-3 20; SIMPSON, Trevis 7-17 1-1 16; HENRY, Aloysius 2-8 6-9 10; COLE, Brian 3-5 0-0 7; RANDALL, Kyle 2-10 0-0 6; EVANS, Brandon 1-4 0-0 2; HENEGAR, Cody 0-1 0-0 0; BRACKETT, Aaron 0-2 0-0 0; SELLERS, Darrius 0-0 0-0 0; PARKER, Drew 0-2 0-0 0; WILLIAMS, David 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-59 10-13 61.
CLEMSON (7-4)
Young, Andre 8-14 2-3 22; Grant, Jerai 7-9 5-8 19; Smith, Tanner 3-7 1-3 8; Jennings, Milton 3-7 0-0 7; Anderson, Zavier 2-4 1-2 5; Narcisse, Bryan 1-1 2-4 4; Stanton, Cory 2-4 0-0 4; Booker, Devin 1-3 0-0 2; Baciu, Catalin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-49 11-20 71.
UNCG.......................... 16 45 - 61
Clemson....................... 37 34 - 71
3-point goals--UNCG 7-18 (VAN DUSSEN, Korey 3-4; RANDALL, Kyle 2-5; COLE, Brian 1-2; SIMPSON, Trevis 1-4; HENEGAR, Cody 0-1; EVANS, Brandon 0-1; HENRY, Aloysius 0-1), Clemson 6-14 (Young, Andre 4-8; Smith, Tanner 1-4; Jennings, Milton 1-2). Fouled out--UNCG-SIMPSON, Trevis, Clemson-Jennings, Milton. Rebounds--UNCG 29 (SIMPSON, Trevis 7), Clemson 36 (Grant, Jerai 13). Assists--UNCG 16 (VAN DUSSEN, Korey 6), Clemson 17 (Young, Andre 5). Total fouls--UNCG 22, Clemson 12. Technical fouls--UNCG-None, Clemson-None. A-5500
- UNCG -
