Clemson’s Chase Hunter has turned it up

CLEMSON, S.C. — When PJ Hall left the Louisville game on Feb. 26 after aggravating his already injured left foot, Brad Brownell told his Clemson team they needed to show why they were ACC basketball players.

“We can win without PJ and Hunter (Tyson). You got to get your team to believe that, and I think that probably surprised our team,” Brownell said. “Me coming at them a little bit after we played a very competitive game and a lot of guys played pretty well. But I was not happy. I kind of made them understand that the expectation has to be that you can do more.”

Brownell’s message was received, especially by guard Chase Hunter.

In the two games since, including Saturday’s 70-60 victory at Boston College, Hunter has scored 44 points and has made 17 of 21 shots from the field and is 8 of 10 from the foul line. He has combined to grab 11 rebounds in wins over Wake Forest and Boston College.

“It is just knowing you can do it and can do it on a regular basis,” Brownell said. “The first time could be luck. The second time could be an accident. When you do something three times, I am a believer you are starting to get it figured out.”

Hunter looked like he had things figured out against Boston College. The redshirt sophomore scored a career-high 23 points on 7 of 9 shooting. He was also 8 of 10 at the foul line and had seven rebounds.

“My confidence these past few (games) has been at a high level,” Hunter said. “I would say like, for me, it has been my shot selection. I not settling for contested threes or maybe contested twos. I am really getting to my spots. Just attacking and trying to get fouls.”

Saturday’s performance came after Hunter scored 21 points in the Tigers’ win over Wake Forest this past Wednesday. He was 10-for-12 from the field against the Demon Deacons.

“He has to play well. Those guards have to play well for us to win,” Brownell said.

They have been.

Al-Amir Dawes scored 16 points against the Eagles, as well as 19 points and had four assists in the win over Wake Forest. Nick Honored dropped in nine points on Saturday after he scored 13 on Wednesday night.

The sudden surge by Clemson’s three guards, all of which can shoot and score from anywhere, has taken the pressure off the Tigers’ post players, especially freshmen Ian Schieffelin and Ben Middlebrooks. Those two have been tasked with replacing Tyson and Hall.

“Our freshman (post players) are good players, and we think they are going to be fine, but they are not ready to go score a bunch of points for us and lead this team in scoring,” Brownell said. “They have other things they are asked to do. They are asked to defend and rebound, make some plays out of the high post and occasionally score one around the rim. Defend their tails off, set good screens and be great in their pick-and-roll coverages. Those kids are doing it. They are fighting and learning and growing.

“But if we are going to win the games, our guards are going to have to score. Even when PJ is healthy, we have to have good balance in our game to win. I think our guards have really understood that and have played really well the last couple of weeks. A bunch of them are making good shots and are playing with confidence. Some of them just needed to see the ball go in a couple of times, so I think that has really helped them.”

The Tigers hope everyone continues to play at a high level when they host Georgia Tech at Littlejohn Coliseum this coming Wednesday at 7 p.m.