Nick Honor scored 19 points and Clemson shot 52.4 percent from 3-point range en route to a 75-48 victory against Temple Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C.
The Tigers (4-0) advance to face No. 22 St. Bonaventure (3-0) in Friday’s semifinal round. St. Bonaventure defeated Boise State 67-61 on Thursday.
Clemson’s Honor was a picture of perfection against the Owls on Thursday, making all seven of his shots from the floor, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range, and converting his only free throw attempt.
PJ Hall added 13 points and Hunter Tyson 10 for the Tigers, who have made at least 42 percent of their 3-point attempts in each game this season and are shooting a collective 48.1 percent from long range.
Honor scored 14 points in the first half, including 11 straight for Clemson during one stretch, and the Tigers used a 15-2 run to close the half and pull ahead by 12, 38-26, at the break.
Clemson, which was projected to finish 11th in the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason poll, then opened the second half on a 15-4 run that culminated with consecutive 3-pointers by Tyson, Al-Amir Dawes and Honor to open up a 23-point margin with 15 minutes left.
Temple (1-2) never drew close than 20 points after that.
Tai Strickland paced Temple with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting while Damian Dunn added 13 points. The Owls will play Boise State on Friday.
Temple shot .358 from the floor and 20 percent (4 of 20) from 3-point range.
Thursday’s game marked the fourth time that Clemson and Temple have met in the Charleston Classic, with the Tigers winning three of the four meetings. Temple’s lone win against the Tigers in Charleston came in the championship game of the 2017 tournament, 67-60.
–Field Level Media
