Carter Welling scored 18 points as No. 22 Clemson won its ninth consecutive game, a 69-59 victory over visiting Miami on Saturday.
Welling shot 6-of-10 from the floor and also grabbed nine rebounds for the Tigers (16-3, 6-0 ACC). Jestin Porter added 11 points and RJ Godfrey chipped in 10. Dillon Hunter contributed seven points and seven assists.
Despite 22 points from Shelton Henderson, Miami (15-3, 4-1) saw its 10-game win streak snapped. Malik Reneau added 11 points for the Hurricanes before fouling out with about seven minutes to play, while Dante Allen scored 10.
Clemson led wire-to-wire after opening the game with an 8-0 run kickstarted by a 3-pointer from Welling. Miami trimmed the deficit to three points with 13 minutes left in the half, but Clemson pushed its lead to 11 after Porter and Nick Davidson connected on layups with under two minutes until intermission.
The Tigers used a 12-3 run midway through the second half to take their biggest lead of the game at 55-38. The scoring surge was started by Porter connecting on a 26-foot 3-pointer, and also featured an impressive dunk from Jake Wahlin.
Miami shot just 38.9% from the floor. A common thread in the Hurricanes’ three losses this season – to BYU, Florida and Clemson – is that they haven’t shot the ball well, shooting below 40% in each game. Those three showings are Miami’s worst shooting performances of the season so far. The Hurricanes also turned the ball over 16 times, leading to 14 Clemson points.
Clemson, meanwhile, shot 52.9% from the floor, marking the fourth time this season they’ve made at least half of their field goal attempts or more in a single game. The Tigers also shot 47.1% from 3-point land, their second-best mark of the season.
