Carter Welling and Nick Davidson each scored 12 points to lead No. 22 Clemson Tigers to a dominant 63-52 Atlantic Coast Conference win over the visiting Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday.
RJ Godfrey chipped in 10 points for Clemson (18-4, 8-1 ACC), which led by 20 points with five minutes to go to stay within one game of Duke in the conference race.
Roman Siulepa and Damarco Minor led the way with 12 points apiece for the Panthers (9-13, 2-7), who led for just 47 seconds. Siulepa added a game-high nine rebounds while Cameron Corhen contributed nine points.
A slow start for both teams left Clemson holding a 13-11 edge midway through the first half, but the Tigers erupted for a 17-2 run to take a 30-13 lead with 2:14 to go. Dillon Hunter and Efrem Johnson posted five points apiece during the spree.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh endured a five-minute scoring skein and a 3:50 drought as the Panthers committed five turnovers and made 1 of 13 field goal attempts.
Clemson took a 33-16 lead into the break. The 16 points scored in the first half were a season-low for the Panthers, who shot 6-for-28 from the floor and 2-for-18 from behind the 3-point line.
Pitt opened the first half on a 10-2 run to get within 35-26 on a pair of Omari Weatherspoon free throws with 16:53 to go. Clemson answered by gradually pulling away.
Welling scored eight consecutive points for the Tigers, six on free throws, to push Clemson to a 51-36 advantage with 9:19 left.
When Davidson hit a 3-point attempt with 4:57 to play, he gave Clemson its biggest lead at 62-42.
The Tigers will look to continue their momentum when they travel on Wednesday to Stanford. Pittsburgh faces another Top 25 challenge when it travels on Tuesday to No. 17 Virginia.
–Field Level Media
