Chapel Thrill: Clemson basketball completes historic upset of No. 3 UNC

And then there were two.

The Clemson men’s basketball team has officially won its second ever game in Chapel Hill, home of the storied UNC men’s basketball program, in 62 tries. And in doing so, the Tigers have given their 2023-24 season new life.

Clemson toppled the No. 3 Tar Heels, 80-76, on Tuesday night in the Smith Center, delivering a shocker to the No. 1 team in the ACC standings and moving to 2-60 all-time in Chapel Hill and 2-29 all-time in the arena also known as the Dean Dome, UNC’s home since 1986.

Photos: Clemson defeats North Carolina in Chapel Hill

UNC (18-5, 10-2 ACC) never led in the game, and Clemson (15-7, 5-6 ACC) led by as many as 16 points in its signature win of the season.

It’ll be a huge boost for coach Brad Brownell’s squad, which remains in good NCAA Tournament position but had lost six of its last nine ACC games and projected as a No. 8 seed in the most recent ESPN Bracketology.

Scratch that.

Clemson center PJ Hall lived up to his preseason All-ACC billing with a fiery 25 points and nine rebounds (and a season-high five 3-pointers), and bruising forward Ian Schieffelin (14 points, 11 rebounds) and sharp-shooting guard Joe Girard III (21 points, five 3-pointers) got theirs as the Tigers stunned UNC at the Heels’ home.

“Really happy for our players,” Brownell said postgame. “We’ve been working really hard, and they’ve stayed connected and positive. . .. We have a lot of great kids in there. Good things happen to great people. Today was that day.”

Added Schieffelin: “Anywhere this team goes, we feel like we can win.”

A shocking road upset

That was an impressive mindset to carry into Chapel Hill and one of the more storied venues of ACC and college basketball at large. Clemson lost its first 59 games in a row against UNC, an NCAA record, before beating the Tar Heels on their home court in overtime during the 2020 season.

That Brownell-led team had to scramble from down 10 points with just over two minutes remaining to beat a struggling UNC team in overtime during coach Roy Williams’ last season. Four years later, Clemson was simply the better team all night against a far more fearsome Tar Heels squad.

Coach Hubert Davis’ team ranked No. 3 in the AP Top 25, had won 10 straight home games and was 10-1 in the ACC, tops in the league standings among 15 teams. The Tar Heels beat Clemson on the road earlier this season when both were ranked.

Oh, and they were coming off a dominant, emotionally taxing win over rival Duke on Saturday. Two UNC players, center Armando Bacot and forward Harrison Ingram, even admitted postgame the team was far from completely locked in, noting how some players on the roster showed up late to Tuesday’s pregame warmups.

The Tigers, meanwhile, seized upon the underdog status (they were a 6.5-point betting underdog) and got out to a 15-2 lead on UNC in less than four minutes, forcing a Davis timeout. Exactly Clemson’s plan, according to Hall.

“We didn’t wanna get out here with a win,” he said. “We wanted a domination win. Come out here, set the tone, get in a rhythm. Don’t go out there scared. Come in expecting a win.”

Clemson withstood a handful of UNC runs and led by nine points, 43-34, at halftime. It was only the fifth time in 62 games in Chapel Hill the Tigers led UNC at halftime and the second largest behind a February 2008 game (led by 11). It was also North Carolina’s worst halftime deficit all year and worst in the Smith Center since 2022.

Try as they might in the second half, the Tar Heels couldn’t catch the Tigers. They never led once in the game (the first time that’s happened since 2022 against Duke).

Clemson closes it out

UNC, at various points, cut its deficit to a single possession and tied the game 70-70 with 4:17 to go. But Clemson found the clutch gene it had been lacking in recent ACC losses to Georgia Tech, Duke and Virginia by a combined five points and outscored UNC 10-6 the rest of the way.

A Girard 3-pointer to put Clemson up 75-70 with 2:09 remaining was huge, as was a baffling UNC turnover (forward Jalen Washington throwing it away into the backcourt) on the next possession. Hall, Schieffelin and forward Jack Clark went a combined 5-6 on free throws in the final two minutes, too.

When the final buzzer sounded, dozens of UNC fans were already walking back to their cars and a number of Clemson players waved goodbye to those remaining as they jogged off the court, soaking in the team’s biggest road win (in terms of opponent’s rank) since beating No. 2 Maryland in 1976.

It certainly wasn’t the team that lost six of its first nine games during the new year, putting a damper on an excellent 9-0 start and a few huge wins over Alabama and South Carolina. But it’s who Clemson has been all along, according to Brownell, who holds the program’s only two wins at Chapel Hill ever and is now 4-16 against UNC.

“We got tired at times,” he said. “And then North Carolina came after us, which they’re going to do. I mean, this environment is is hard to play in. The crowd was really into it ... We had to withstand all of that. ... This was a terrific win for us.”

One that went beyond historical records, according to Schieffelin. He was asked postgame if there was any talk among players leading into this game about the Tigers’ poor record at UNC.

The forward, fresh off Clemson’s second win at UNC in three tries, grinned.

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “No. We were ready.”

Next four Clemson MBB games

• Saturday Feb. 10: at Syracuse, noon (ESPN2)

• Wednesday Feb. 14: vs. Miami, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)

• Saturday Feb. 17: vs. NC State, 7:45 p.m. (The CW)

• Wednesday Feb. 21: at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m. (ACCN)