Ace Buckner scored a game-high 18 points and RJ Godfrey finished with nine points and nine rebounds to lead Clemson to an 88-38 victory over visiting New Hampshire on Monday night in the season opener for each team.
Eleven players scored for the Tigers, who never trailed. Jake Wahlin scored 11 points, Carter Welling and Nick Davidson each finished with 10, and Jestin Porter had eight.
Clemson attempted 41 free throws, 32 more than New Hampshire. The Tigers had a 20-2 edge in points off turnovers.
New Hampshire, picked to finish last in the America East preseason poll, received a team-high 11 points from Comeh Emuobor, nine from KiJan Robinson, and eight from Giannos Xanthopoulos.
Clemson held New Hampshire to 25% shooting from the floor (15 of 60), including 4 of 27 from 3-point territory. The Tigers had a 45-30 rebounding edge.
No Clemson player had more than 22 minutes of court time, and 10 received at least 15 minutes.
It was a nightmarish first half for New Hampshire, which has no seniors or graduate students on its roster. The Wildcats trailed 12-2 just over five minutes into the game and didn’t reach double figures until Robinson made a layup with 8:43 remaining in the half.
Clemson used a 15-0 run to take a 29-point lead, 43-14, and led 43-16 at halftime.
New Hampshire shot 21.2% from the field in the opening half (7 of 33) and missed 18 of its 19 3-point attempts. Clemson also had a 25-3 edge in free-throw attempts in the half.
Clemson scored the first eight points of the second half to push its lead to 51-16 and led 62-22 with 13:06 to play. Clemson’s largest lead was 52 points, 88-36.
–Field Level Media
