Tigers triumph: Clemson topples 2-seed Arizona to advance to NCAA’s Elite 8 round

Clemson was sweet.

Now it’s elite.

An unforgettable 2024 NCAA Tournament run continued Thursday night for the Tigers as they upset Arizona, 77-72, in a thrilling, back-and-forth Sweet 16 game in Los Angeles. With the win at Crypto.com Arena, Clemson advances to the second Elite Eight in program history and first in 44 years.

After upsetting the No. 2 seed Wildcats, the No. 6 Tigers qualified for their first Elite Eight since 1980 (when the field was only 48 teams) and will play Saturday against the winner of the UNC-Alabama game that tipped off later Thursday in Los Angeles.

After a dunk by center PJ Hall out of a beautifully designed post-timeout inbounds play, Clemson went up 72-67 on Arizona with 1:02 remaining in the game. But Arizona’s Jaden Bradley sank a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to bring the Wildcats back within two points and a single possession.

What followed was some late-game poetry, Tigers style. On Clemson’s next possession, it drained the clock down to under 30 seconds before guard Chase Hunter slashed through the lane for an and-one layup. He made the free throw to put the Tigers up 75-70 with 26 seconds left.

Arizona’s Caleb Love responded with a layup (75-72), only for Clemson to break the Wildcats’ scrambling full-court press like it was a toothpick and for Joe Girard III to toss the ball ahead to Dillon Hunter (Chase’s younger brother) for an and-one layup of his own. 77-72.

Dillon Hunter missed his free throw, but it didn’t matter. One final Arizona miss, and the party was on at the home of the Los Angeles Lakers. Clemson athletic director Graham Neff may have gone viral in the stands postgame, hands above his head and eyes open wide, joyfully speechless in what he just saw.

But on the court, these Tigers didn’t blink.

“Today was our day,” coach Brad Brownell said postgame. “We made enough plays to win, and I’m just super happy that these guys are going to get a chance to continue to play and we get to spend more time together.”

Game recap

Clemson started out scorching (again) and led by as many as 13 points in the first half, with six different players scoring and four hitting a 3-pointer. Showing no signs of rust from a cross-country trip or one fewer day of rest than Arizona, the Tigers were 53% from the field in the opening 20 minutes and hit five of their 11 3-pointers.

Clemson (24-11) was up 29-16 with 6:43 remaining in the first half. Arizona narrowed the gap from there in front of a friendly crowd that was, by some estimates, about 80% Wildcats fans and got within seven points (39-31) at half.

And a furious 8-0 Wildcats run out of halftime spark the crowd again and tied things at 43-43 less than three minutes into the second half. Arizona (27-9) took its first lead of the game moments later, 46-45, and it felt like a potential tipping point.

But “we’ve played in more intense, harder environments than that,” Hall said postgame. “One at Chapel Hill, one at Alabama, one at a ice hockey rink in Canada against TCU. ... We were calm. That speaks to our veterans, too, a lot of older guys in the group. Staying calm and being able to withstand runs.”

Did they ever. Nobody keeps a statistics for “anti-daggers,” but time and time again during the second half of Thursday’s game Arizona would make a huge play and be on the verge of the breakthrough. Clemson, without fail, would respond.

The Tigers did play around with their food a little as they missed a number of open looks during a ghastly Arizona cold stretch — the Wildcats, during one stretch, had missed 11 straight shots and 16 of 17 overall — and went from up seven with 7:46 remaining (65-58) to up two points with 49 seconds to go (72-70).

The poise Clemson showed in that final minute delivered a third straight win as a betting underdog, the program’s biggest NCAA Tournament upset in terms of opposing team’s seed and its first Elite Eight trip since Brownell was 12 years old and decades before anybody on the roster was born.

Hunter, a fifth-year senior, continued his red hot month with 18 points and also limited Arizona’s Caleb Love, the reigning Pac 12 Player of the Year, to 13 points on 5-of-18 shooting. Hall had 17 points and eight rebounds, and front-court mate Ian Schieffelin had 14 points and seven rebounds.

And Clemson put together another swarming group effort against one of the country’s top offenses. Arizona, in its loss, was just 37% from the field and 5 of 28, or 18%, on 3-pointers.

A dream season for the Tigers continues Saturday against either No. 1 UNC or No. 4 Alabama in the West Regional championship game. The winner advances to a Final Four game in the Phoenix area.

Clemson will likely be a betting underdog again. Three games in, that hasn’t stopped the Tigers.

“It’s incredible to go through some trials and tribulations to get where we’re at now,” Hall said. “Even in the season, but over the course of the years, Chase has battled injuries and I battled injuries, battled tough seasons, tough losses and stuff in order to get to the point we are at now.”

“It’s incredible to see the fruits of your labor. And it’s special.”