Winthrop 77, Clemson 74: Keon Johnson scored 19 points and Keon Moore sank a pair of free throws in the final seconds as the visiting Eagles upset the Tigers.
Moore scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half for Winthrop (2-0), which got its first win at Littlejohn Coliseum since 2001. Andre Smith poured in 16 points and Derrick Henry chipped in 10 as the Eagles won on the strength of 9-of-23 shooting beyond the arc and 20-of-25 from the foul line.
Landry Nnoko tallied a career-high 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocks but committed a personal-worst seven turnovers for Clemson (1-1), which failed to win its first two games of a season for the first time in 14 years. Donte Grantham added 13 points and seven boards while Jaron Blossomgame contributed 12 and eight, respectively, for the Tigers.
Neither team could gain more than five points of separation until Damarcus Harrison’s dunk near the end of the first half capped an 8-0 surge to give Clemson a seven-point lead, but Henry’s 3-pointer right before the break left Winthrop down 36-34. The Eagles carried their momentum into the early part of the second half, pulling ahead by two on a 3-pointer from Jarad Scott with just over 18 minutes left.
The lead traded hands several times over the next eight-plus minutes until Moore knocked down a 3-pointer during a 7-0 run that forced a timeout by the Tigers and he stopped a rally from Clemson with another triple with six minutes to go. Clemson crawled within one on two occasions in the final 1:20 – including on a 3-pointer from Rod Hall with 22 seconds remaining, but Moore and Smith hit two foul shots apiece to seal it in the waning seconds.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Winthrop snapped Clemson’s three-game winning streak in the series and improved to 2-9 against the Tigers. … Clemson, which forced Florida A&M into 24 turnovers in its season-opening win, recorded only six against Winthrop. … The Eagles improved to 5-34 against ACC opponents, getting their first such victory since defeating Wake Forest in 2010.
Winthrop | Clemson | |
Keon Johnson 19 | Scoring | Landry Nnoko 19 |
Andre Smith 4 | Assists | Jordan Roper 3 |
Keon Moore 5 | Rebounds | Landry Nnoko 9 |
Derrick Henry 5 | Free Throws Made | Landry Nnoko 7 |
Keon Moore 3 | Steals | Austin Ajukwa 1 |
Duby Okeke 3 | Blocks | Landry Nnoko 5 |