It’s New Year’s Day 2025. On my multi-view setup of games, I’m watching the historic Peach Bowl Big 12-SEC matchup between Texas and Arizona State, a conference clash in the Rose Bowl between Oregon and Ohio State (a true old-school Big 10 showdown), and, of course, on my other screen, the longtime basketball rivalry between Atlantic Coast Conference foes Clemson and the Stanford Cardinal. Alas, I digress. Let’s get into the details of the game.
The first 28 minutes had all the makings of one of those classic “team Clemson should beat at home, but it happens to be the opponent’s best shooting day of the year” scenarios. The Cardinal jumped out to 7-0 and 13-5 leads, staying persistently pesky for the first three-fifths of the game. Stanford shot over 45%, and their main scorers—Raynaud, Sellers, and Blakes—were able to get to the basket consistently. It seemed primed to be a potential letdown for the Tigers.
As Clemson has done in each of their three ACC games this season, the Tigers took complete control at the most critical juncture.
Offensively, the Tigers finished the game shooting an impressive 48% from the field and an even sweeter 42% from beyond the arc. Four of Clemson’s starting five ended the game in double figures, with the lone single-digit scorer surprisingly being Ian Schieffelin. Chase Hunter and Jaeden Zackary are shaping up to be one of the most dangerous backcourts in the ACC. The two tallied 22 and 16 points, respectively, and the game quickly spiraled out of Stanford’s reach from there.
Chauncey Wiggins continues to be a major X-factor for the Clemson offense. Tonight, he posted a casual 54.5% shooting performance, including a stellar 80% from three-point range. He finished with 18 points and 5 rebounds. Clemson has not lost when he scores double-digits.
Victor Lakhin led the team in rebounding (7) and contributed a tough 11 points. He also tallied 5 blocks and played a huge role while Ian Schieffelin was on the bench with foul trouble most of the first half. His five blocks boosted the Tiger defense. He was questionable to play at all due to illness, but didn’t let it show. Tigers fans may owe a thanks to a hearty tablespoon of Tamiflu.
Overall, the game unfolded much as one might expect for a team traveling to the East Coast. Stanford started red-hot, going 3-for-3 from three-point range, but ultimately finished a dismal 3-for-21 from deep. They looked out of gas as the game wore on. In a way, you have to feel for the situation they’ve been put in. But a win is a win—what can you do?
The Tigers improve to 11-3 (3-0 in the ACC) and will play Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2 against another longtime ACC rival… The Cal Golden Bears.
Go Tigers!
