PJ Hall scored a game-high 27 points, 20 of which came in the first half, to lead No. 18 Clemson to a 109-79 victory over visiting Queens on Friday.
RJ Godfrey added 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting from the field as Clemson (10-1) breezed past the Royals thanks to 69 first-half points — its third most points in a half in school history, and the most since 1993. Joseph Girard III also tallied 19 points for the Tigers, whose 109 points were their most since scoring 118 points in a February 2002 win over Wake Forest. Chauncey Wiggins scored 13 points and added six rebounds for the Tigers.
BJ McLaurin and AJ McKee scored 18 points apiece for Queens (6-8), which never led in its third straight loss. Chris Ashby totaled 14 points and Deyton Albury had 10.
The Tigers raced out to a 40-27 lead at the 6:35 mark of the first half, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Godfrey.
Clemson’s scoring didn’t slow down, as it poured in 29 points over the final six minutes of the first half, including a Chase Hunter triple at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 69-36 lead.
Clemson made 27 of its 38 shots (71.1 percent) in the first half, as opposed to 13-for-37 (35.1 percent) for the Royals.
Queens kept pace with Clemson’s scoring in the second half, outscoring the Tigers 43-40.
A Dillon Hunter layup pushed the Tigers’ lead to 107-70, their biggest advantage of the game. Littlejohn Coliseum erupted as walk-on Andrew Latiff scored a bucket with four seconds left for the first points of his college career.
Clemson finished the game 43-for-68 (63.2 percent) from the field, while Queen shot 28-for-74 (37.8 percent).
For the Royals, who are in their second season as a Division I member, Friday marked their first game against a ranked opponent.
Queens will face another Top-25 challenge on Dec. 30 when it travels to No. 21 Duke in Durham, N.C. Clemson hosts Radford on Dec. 29 before Atlantic Coast Conference play begins in January.
–Field Level Media
