Buckner Career-High Leads Clemson to State Championship Win

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Ace Buckner scored 19 points, and Clemson jumped out early to cruise past South Carolina 68-61 on Tuesday night.

Carter Welling added 16 points for Clemson, which is 9-3 overall and 7-0 at home.

The Tigers had their largest lead, 56-43, on Welling’s three-point play with 6:55 remaining. Nordin Kapic scored five straight points inside the final three minutes to pull the Gamecocks to 65-59 with 48 seconds left. Welling then hit a free throw, and Bucker added two more from the line to help seal the game with 15 seconds to play.

Kobe Knox and Mike Sharavjamts each scored 13 points to lead South Carolina (7-4). Sharavjamts also grabbed seven rebounds.

Clemson took the lead for good nearly eight minutes into the first half and built a 34-27 halftime advantage. Welling scored eight points as Clemson shot 50% (13 of 26) from the floor. Sharavjamts scored nine points to pace South Carolina, which shot 39% (11 of 28) overall and made just 2 of 15 from distance in the first half.

The previous three games between the teams had been decided by five points or less. The last time South Carolina won at Clemson was a 67-54 victory on Dec. 15, 2019.

It was the 175th game in the series, which South Carolina leads 93-82.

KEY STATS

• For the second-straight game, the Gamecocks struggled to knockdown open looks from behind the arc, going 4-of-26 (15.4%) from 3-point territory.
• Carolina has done well limiting turnovers this season but 14 giveways tonight led to 16 points for the Tigers on their home floor.

NOTABLES

• Redshirt senior guard Kobe Knox and senior transfer guard Mike Sharavjamts each scored 13 points to lead South Carolina. It was Knox’s sixth game in double-figures this season and Sharavjamts’ eighth, which leads the team.
• Clemson limited leading scorer Meechie Johnson to eights points on 2-of-9 shooting. He entered the game averaging 15.5 points per game with career-best shooting splits from the floor and behind the arc. Johnson was effective in other areas though with six rebounds, four assists (led team) and three steals (led team).
• Freshman guard Eli Ellis missed his first game of the season tonight with a left ankle sprain. His status is day-to-day going forward. In 10 games this season, Ellis has averaged 10.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 28.1 minutes, per game.
• Junior transfer forward Chirst Essandoko had his best performance in Garnet and Black in his third consecutive start. He played a season-high 16 minutes finishing with eight points and seven rebounds. Essandoko tied Sharavjamts for the team lead tonight in +/- finishing +4.

UP NEXT
South Carolina is off the rest of the week before returning home on Dec. 22 to face South Carolina State (0-12) in its final game before a brief Christmas break. Tip is set for Dec. 22 at 4 p.m. (ET) with Cade Crenshaw (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.