UNC Basketball: Tar Heels survive on the road at Clemson

The UNC basketball program escapes Clemson with a much-needed win on Tuesday.

Whew.

Staring down the possibility of another tough road loss in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the UNC basketball program made three key plays down the stretch to survive at Clemson and earn a 79-77 win on Tuesday night. At the center of two of those three plays was sophomore guard Caleb Love, who hasn’t played well as of late.

But on Tuesday, Love came up big when UNC needed it the most and their star player Armando Bacot on the bench.

Trailing 75-74 with 36 seconds left, Love hit a big three-pointer to put UNC ahead 77-75. After P.J. Hall got a bucket in the paint to give Clemson the lead back, Love drove the lane and dished it off to Brady Manek for a layup and what would be the eventual game-winning score. The sequence was huge for Love who finished the game with 10 points but five turnovers. He executed two big plays down the stretch to help give UNC a big road win as they currently have some work to do with their NCAA Tournament resume.

Bacot fouled out with UNC trailing 75-74 with 1:03 left in the game on a charge call. He finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds posting another double-double.

After Clemson got off to a hot start grabbing a 8-0 lead, UNC fought back and eventually took a 30-25 lead into the break. But in the second half, Clemson fought back as UNC made three big mistakes to keep the Tigers in the game.

Brady Manek was called for a flagrant foul with 16:20 left UNC leading 39-33, leading to a five-point play for the Tigers. Minutes later, Bacot was called for a flagrant foul on a made three-pointer by R.J. Davis and Clemson took advantage with a four-point possession.

With 5:47 left, Davis was called for a technical foul after flexing on a made basket that gave UNC a 66-64 lead. Clemson would convert on both free throws to tie the game. It was the little mistakes by the Tar Heels that almost doomed them in this one.

In a back and forth final few minutes, the Tar Heels were able to prevail. The win moves them to 17-7 overall and 9-4 in conference play here in February. Going into this game, UNC was sitting right there as one of the last four teams in and needed to take care of business in games they should win.

Facing a tough crowd at Clemson, the Tar Heels did just that and grabbed sole possession of fourth place in the conference.

Next up is a date with Florida State in the Dean Dome on Saturday afternoon.

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