Marcquise Reed scored a season-high 26 points and backcourt mate Shelton Mitchell added 13 as No. 19 Clemson improved to 3-0 with a 74-59 victory against visiting Sam Houston State on Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Clemson, coming off a 25-10 season and Sweet 16 appearance, improved to 3-0 while the visiting Bearkats fell to 2-2.

Reed, a graduate guard, finished only two points shy of his career high. He connected on 9 of 18 shots from the floor, including 3 of 8 from 3-point range.

Sophomore Aamir Simms added 12 points for the Tigers. Simms made both of his 3-point attempts and has made 7 of his 8 shots from beyond the arc in the Tigers' first three games.

A 6-foot-7 forward, Simms also had a game-high eight rebounds for Clemson, which outrebounded Sam Houston State, 37-29.

Junior forward Kai Mitchell led the Bearkats with 14 points while Josh Delaney added 11.

Sam Houston State maintained contact with Clemson in the early going and the game was tied at 41-41 with 14 minutes remaining. But Clemson, sparked by Reed, went on a 21-6 run to seize control. The Bearkats drew no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Clemson shot 53 percent from the floor for the game and the Tigers were a red-hot 15 of 25, or 60 percent, in the second half.

Sam Houston State, which went 21-15 last season and won two games in the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament, shot 34.9 percent (22 of 63) overall from the floor.

The Bearkats' leading scorer, redshirt senior guard Cameron Delaney, was held to seven points on 3 of 10 shooting.

Clemson will return to action Monday when it faces Akron in the first round of the Cayman Islands Classic.

--Field Level Media