Hall’s Dominant Performance Leads Unbeaten Clemson to Victory over No. 23 Alabama in ACC/SEC Challenge

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — PJ Hall dominated the game with 21 points, eight rebounds, and four blocks, leading Clemson to an 85-77 victory over No. 23 Alabama on Tuesday night.

Joseph Girard III contributed 16 points, four assists, and two steals as part of Clemson’s triumphant performance. Chase Hunter added 15 points and Ian Schieffelin scored nine while grabbing 14 rebounds.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell commented, “We are a little different than a lot of teams in college basketball in that we post the ball.” Brownell added, “We play two big guys, we move our big guys in and out, high-low. That’s part of our style. When you do pressure like Alabama was pressuring us sometimes, we have more opportunities to throw it in sometimes.”

RJ Godfrey scored 11 points off the bench as the Tigers shot 53% from the field, including 11 for 21 from 3-point range. On the other end, Clemson held Alabama (5-2) to 34% shooting overall in its worst offensive performance of the season.

Alabama coach Nate Oats attributed the offensive struggles to the difficulty his team had with the toughness of Clemson’s guards and mentioned, “We’re definitely not tough enough to be competing for an SEC championship right now.”

Mark Sears led Alabama with 23 points, including 4-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. The Crimson Tide led by seven with just under 13 minutes left but were outplayed the rest of the way.

Aaron Estrada scored 16 for Alabama, and Grant Nelson added 14 points and eight rebounds.

BIG PICTURE

Clemson’s first true road game was an emphatic success. The Tigers took down a Top 25 team in their first clash with an opponent from a power conference this season. Winning away from home will be critical coming up, given Clemson’s first two ACC games are on the road, against Pitt and Miami, with a nonconference road game against Memphis in between.

Meanwhile, the loss dropped Alabama to 1-2 against teams from power conferences after four convincing wins over mid-major opponents to start the season.

Alabama pointed to its woes on defense, regularly citing that it entered Tuesday with the top-ranked offense in the nation according to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, but ranked 61st in the country on defense by the same metric.

“That’s something we’re really focused on and we’re going to get that fixed,” Sears said. “No matter how long it takes.”

UP NEXT

Clemson: Plays its first ACC game at Pitt on Sunday.

Alabama: Six days off before hosting Arkansas State on Monday night.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball