Clemson spent most of the night in a fight it probably didn’t want, but the Tigers did enough late to keep their record spotless.
Liutauras Lelevicius and Chase Thompson carried the load as Clemson outlasted North Dakota 92-77 on its home floor, surviving a game that had upset written all over it for long stretches. The Tigers improved to 3-0, while North Dakota fell to 1-2.
The final margin didn’t show how uncomfortable this one was for Clemson. North Dakota came out firing from deep and kept landing punches, especially in the first half, when the Fighting Hawks were 4-for-6 from three early and built a 16-11 lead with 14 minutes left before halftime.
Clemson had opened with a 5-0 burst, but the Tigers quickly got dragged into a sloppy stretch that included seven early turnovers. North Dakota turned those mistakes into 14 points in the first 20 minutes.
Clemson eventually steadied itself with a 10-0 run that started with 9:17 left in the first half. Dallas Thomas sparked the surge, hitting a pair of free throws to put the Tigers back in front before knocking down back-to-back threes for a 33-27 edge.
Even then, North Dakota kept answering. The Fighting Hawks finished the half with more than just a hot shooting stretch; they actually took a 40-38 lead into the break. Zach Kraft had 12 points at halftime, well above his 3.5-point average through the first two games, and Carter Evanson added nine after averaging five per game to start the season.
Clemson finally grabbed the lead for good in the second half, though North Dakota still refused to go away. Thompson’s side-winding layup with 15:41 remaining put the Tigers up 47-46, but the Fighting Hawks kept extending possessions with second-chance opportunities and hustle on the glass.
That pressure made the game feel tight well into the closing stretch. Clemson kept finding enough offense through quick drives and smart cuts, but North Dakota never fully let the Tigers breathe.
Then Lelevicius and Thompson took over.
Lelevicius scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half and was perfect at the line, going 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Thompson matched him with a career-high 21 points and added five rebounds. Together, they powered Clemson through the finish and gave the Tigers the separation they had been chasing all night.
A 7-0 Clemson run pushed the lead to 76-71, and Cole Certa’s three-pointer with 2:42 left made it a 12-point game. From there, the Tigers closed the door.
Ace Buckner and Dylan Faulkner also reached double figures for Clemson with 13 and 12 points, giving the Tigers four players in double figures on a night when they needed every bit of that balance.
North Dakota still made its presence felt from long range, finishing 13-for-27 from three-point range. But Clemson’s late push was enough to turn a dangerous night into another win.
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The ACC is also changing alongside it, with the league saying this season will be its last with a conference championship game. What comes next is still being sorted out, including how the conference will decide its champion and automatic qualifier, but the broader picture is clear enough for Clemson fans to notice: the new setup should give the Tigers more chances to get in and, if they earn it, more chances to host postseason games. [Read more 🡒]