BOX SCORE
CLEMSON, S.C. -- Morehead State men's basketball hung tight with No. 24 Clemson for a majority of the first half Monday afternoon, but a six-minute field goal drought - coupled with a 15-0 Tiger run during that time - spelled trouble as the Eagles ultimately fell 66-51 at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Morehead State finished its non-conference portion of the schedule at 4-6 overall (1-2 in OVC games so far). Clemson, which entered the game at No. 24 but dropped out when rankings came out at halftime, moved to 6-1 in 2020-21.
Junior guard
Skyelar Potter hit a career-best five three-pointers and led the Eagles with a career-high 22 points on the day, including 16 in the second half. It marked his sixth double-figure game and fourth straight. Clemson pulled away by virtue of a 10-of-27 day shooting the three-pointer.
KEY MOMENTS
- MSU opened the game on a 6-2 run. Potter's free throw at 17:15 set the four-point lead for the Eagles.
- Al-Amir Dawes' three-pointer at 12:45 of the first half capped a 10-1 run that put the Tigers ahead 12-7.
- Junior forward
LJ Bryan sank a layup with 6:64 left in the half to bookend a 9-2 scoring flurry for the Eagles as they led 16-14.
- Morehead State, however, did not hit a field goal for the rest of the half. Clemson used a 15-0 run to go up 29-16 with 2:05 remaining in the opening period.
- Clemson's largest lead was 57-33 with 9:17 left in the game
- Potter hit his final three-pointer with 4:21 remaining.
- The Eagles climbed back to within 64-51 with 1:44 left following two Potter free tosses.
KEY STATS
- Morehead State finished with a higher shooting percentage than Clemson at 47 percent (17-of-36).
- Potter's five triples were the most in exactly a year for the Eagles. Senior
Jordan Walker hit six at Ohio last Dec. 21.
- The Eagles finished 7-of-22 from three-point range, compared to 10-of-27 for the host Tigers.
- Clemson averaged turning teams over 18 times per game, while Morehead State entered averaging 18 mistakes per game. The Eagles had 21 turnovers today.
- MSU was only ourt-rebounded 31-25 but no Eagle had more than four individual grabs, led by junior guard
DeVon Cooper.
- Junior guard
KJ Hunt, Jr., handed out a team-high four assists, his sixth consecutive game with at least three assists.
- The Eagles also scored more points in the paint (20-16) than Clemson.
UP NEXT
Morehead State is idle now until Jan. 2 when OVC play begins again. The Eagles are slated to face Murray State on the road that day at 5 p.m. ET.
HIGHLIGHTS
