Elijah Thomas scored 23 points to power Clemson to a 64-37 victory against visiting Wake Forest Sunday in an Atlantic Coast Conference game.
Thomas, a senior forward, made 10 of 11 shots from the floor and grabbed 10 rebounds en route to his sixth double-double of the season. He also blocked a career-high seven shots.
It was the 17th double-figure scoring game in 21 games this season for Thomas.
Clemson improved to 13-8 overall and 3-5 in ACC play by defeating the Demon Deacons for the sixth consecutive time and 11th time in their last 12 meetings.
Wake Forest (8-13, 1-8) hasn't won at Clemson's Littlejohn Coliseum since Jan. 17, 2009.
Wake Forest got off to a slow start, making only one shot in the first 7:20 - a 3-pointer by Chaundee Brown - and fell behind by as many as 17 points, 24-7, with 7:39 left in the half.
The Deacons pulled within 12 by halftime, 30-18, thanks to Brown and Jaylen Hoard, who combined for 16 of the team's 18 points.
Clemson, meanwhile, got 11 points from senior forward Elijah Thomas, who was 4-of-5 shooting in the first half while grabbing six rebounds.
Wake Forest's futility continued in the second half as Clemson used an 11-0 run to pull ahead by 25 with 13:46 remaining and never looked back. The Deacons never drew closer than 21 points after that.
Wake Forest's recent shooting woes continued. The Deacons shot only 23.7 percent from the floor and were 3-of-22 shooting from 3-point range. Coach Danny Manning's team has shot 25 percent or less in seven of nine ACC games this season.
Junior guard Brandon Childress, the Deacons' leading scorer at 16 points per game, went scoreless for the first time this season, missing all 11 of his shots from the floor.
Brown was the only Wake Forest player in double figures with 12 points.
Marcquise Reed, Clemson's leading scorer, finished with nine points for the Tigers.
--Field Level Media
Wake Forest | Clemson | |
Chaundee Brown 12 | Scoring | Elijah Thomas 23 |
Sharone Wright Jr. 3 | Assists | Marcquise Reed 4 |
Jaylen Hoard 7 | Rebounds | Elijah Thomas 10 |
Isaiah Mucius 2 | Free Throws Made | Elijah Thomas 3 |
Brandon Childress 2 | Steals | Aamir Simms 2 |
Olivier Sarr 2 | Blocks | Elijah Thomas 7 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Wake Forest | 37 | 23.7 | 3-22 | 6-8 | 8 | 35 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
Clemson | 64 | 47.2 | 6-18 | 8-11 | 13 | 30 | 10 | 8 | 11 |