Staying hot: Clemson basketball beats Baylor, reaches NCAA Sweet 16

It was tough to describe the absolute chaos that was the final few minutes of Sunday’s Clemson-Baylor NCAA Tournament game.

But Chase Hunter just about nailed it.

“We came here to fight,” he told the TNT broadcast after the Tigers advanced to the Sweet 16 in the bracket’s West Region with a 72-64 win over the Bears in Memphis. “We came here to show who we are. I’ve got blood all over me, man. I’m ready for another one.”

No. 6 seed Clemson is headed next to Los Angeles for the fifth Sweet 16 in program history after taking down No. 3 seed Baylor in a second-round thriller at the FedExForum. Emphasis on thriller. Gritty, hold-on-for-dear-life thriller.

Clemson was up 61-46 on Baylor with 6:41 left in Sunday’s game. That 15-point lead was the Tigers’ largest of the game.

It lasted — just barely.

Over the five minutes, Baylor outscored Clemson 16-5 and got its deficit within two points, 66-64, after two free throws with 1:02 remaining.

It was a moment where Clemson (23-11) could have folded, especially as it played its second game in three days as a betting underdog at a neutral site.

But Clemson followed a simple format — make your free throws, defend the 3-point shot, make your free throws, defend the 3 — to finish the game on a 6-0 run of its own and reach only its second Sweet 16 in 25 years.

Hunter had a team-high 20 points, and three other Tigers (Joe Girard III, Ian Schieffelin and PJ Hall) put up double digits as Brad Brownell became the first coach in Clemson history to lead the team to two Sweet 16s (also in 2018).

“Obviously ecstatic about the win,” Brownell said. “Just super happy for my players. These guys have been battling all year. And couldn’t ask for a better group of guys to coach. They’ve been just fantastic.”

Clemson hangs on late

The Tigers continued a remarkable turnaround after entering the NCAA Tournament as losers of three of their last four games. They beat No. 11 New Mexico (a trendy upset pick) by 21 points in the first round Friday, and Baylor (despite a heroic late push) never led in Sunday’s game as a 4.5-point favorite.

Clemson was on point from the jump again and led 35-25 at halftime over a Bears team that entered as the only program nationally with six different players averaging at least 10 points per game.

But Baylor (24-11) and coach Scott Drew have their share of big game experience, and it showed late as the Bears mounted a furious comeback to get within a single possession of Clemson.

Trailing 66-62 with just over a minute remaining, Baylor forced a turnover and hit two free throws to get the score to 66-64 ... then forced another live ball turnover, got Hall out of the game with his fifth foul and sent Big 12 Freshman of the Year Ja’Kobe Walter to the free throw down two with 36 seconds left.

Walter entered the game as an 81.4% free throw shooter.

Clank.

Clank.

“Sometimes the basketball gods smile at you, and today was one of those days for us,” Brownell said.

That was the case not just on Walter’s missed free throws but the sequence that followed: Clemson’s RJ Godfrey, playing in place of Hall, went to the line with 29 seconds left as a 59.6% free throw shooter this season and sank both to give his team a 68-64 lead.

After the Bears’ Rayj Dennis missed a pull-up 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and Baylor fouled Girard, Clemson’s best free throw shooter, the Tigers bench started brewing. Another Baylor miss. Two more Godfrey free throws. Ball game.

“These guys are a brotherhood,” Girard said postgame. “It’s something I wanted to be a part of and what makes it so special and exciting.”

After surviving and advancing twice this weekend, Clemson’s run continues this Thursday against Arizona, the No. 2 seed in the West Region. It’ll be Tigers and Wildcats in the Sweet 16 at Crypto.com Arena (formerly the legendary Staples Center) and another chance for Clemson to show what it’s believed all along:

That this is a dangerous, veteran team capable of weathering a few cold stretches and more than willing to scrap and claw its way to a win in Memphis.

Or anywhere else.

“There were times in this game where they started coming back,” Hunter said. “We made sure we got a stop when we needed it. That’s what helped us prevail today.”

Clemson’s next game

• Who: No. 2 Arizona (27-8) vs. No. 6 Clemson (23-11) in NCAA Sweet 16

• When: Thursday, March 28

• Where: Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles

• Time: TBA

• Channel: TBA

• What’s next: The Arizona/Clemson winner will face either No. 1 UNC or No. 4 Alabama in an Elite Eight game in Los Angeles on March 30