The Clemson Tigers pulled off an impressive upset in second round action of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament on Sunday afternoon, ending the higher seeded Baylor Bears tournament run and clinching the Tigers first sweet 16 appearance since 2018.
The Tigers (23-11) held the advantage for most of the game as the Bears (24-11) couldn’t keep pace with the controlling Clemson attack. The Bears stormed back from a deficit that was as large as 14 points in the 2nd half to close the margin to 66-64 with under a minute to play, but the Bears couldn’t capitalize as Clemson finished strong and hit their free throws to secure the 72-64 victory.
Chase Hunter paced the Tigers in the scoring department, pouring in 20 points on the night. Joseph Girard III added 13 points and PJ Hall and Ian Schieffelin each contributed 11 points as Clemson had four players eclipse the double digit mark.
Rayj Dennis led the Baylor scoring attack with 27 points, while Jakobe Walter added 20 points for the Bears.
The Tigers will look to keep their tournament dreams alive next week in a Sweet 16 matchup with Arizona.