by Austin Silvey @SilveyESP
CLEMSON, SC -- On Sunday afternoon, Brad Brownell's squad disposed of the Detroit Mercy Titans by a score of 87-65. Hunter Tyson led the way in scoring with 20 points. Tyson finished with a career high in points (20), three pointers made (5) & attempted (10), field goals made (7) and attempted (13), and rebounds (5).
Here are some takeaways from the Tigers' victory...
Early on they played like they'd been off for a week; and the 3:00 Sunday crowd was less than energizing.
Khavon Moore is starting to come along more and more. Has a nice mid-range jumper, though slow developing somewhat. But when he is open he can drain it. Still trying to adjust to the speed of the college game and all it requires. Displayed some of his athleticism defensively and on the glass this game. Had a great assist under the basket to John Newman with about seven minutes left in the second half as well.
Ball movement is improving; they continue to get good shots but have to start making more of them, especially early in games.
Early fouls prove to be a recurring theme; had SIX fouls in the first NINE minutes of the game.
The higher level of focus on three point shooting is fine for this style team if they hit at least 40% or more on them; not a great rebounding team and you can't depend on long rebounds off deep shots going your way enough. Note: Get Hunter Tyson as many open shots beyond the arc as possible. He also looked much more confident and aggressive offensively and it was beautiful to watch.
Free Throws......still need work. Newman missed one later in the game that would have given him an illustrious four-point play.
Impressed by the defensive effort and production from the young guys.
Love how confident the freshmen are but they still tend to try and do too much. When they play in the flow of the offense though they are great. A lot of ability between Dawes and Hunter.
Love how efficient Aamir Simms was when he got the ball. He disappeared a little the past two games and while he didn't 'stand out' necessarily, he took advantage of his opportunities.
Tevin Mack continues to shoot the ball well and score consistently. Said at the beginning of the season he would be a guy to consistently get you around "10-12 points each game." So far through four games he has scored 10, 14, 17 and 18.
John Newman III continues to show off defensive prowess and athleticism. Had a great moving shot block late in the second half.
I asked Brad Brownell in the postgame press conference about how Khavon Moore looked more settled and confident in his game today, posting a productive stat line in just 13 minutes on the court.
He responded, "Khavon's really a freshman. He was hurt a lot last year and didn't practice a whole lot. So he's a guy that's gonna get better. He needs time, good reps, good practices, and continue to build confidence. He's slowly doing that."
"He's 6-8 and long. He can dribble and pass well. Defends a bunch of different positions for you. Was really good rebounding today and we don't have a lot of big frontcourt athletes right now so when he goes in there and rebounds the ball high, it's noticeable."
Moore finished with SEVEN points on 3/4 shooting, SEVEN rebounds, ONE assist and ONE steal in just 13 minutes of play.
Here is more of what Brownell had to say after the game...
On Clemson’s second-half adjustments: “I thought we played really well most of the game. It was really in the second half where we started playing better and made our adjustments.”
On Hunter Tyson getting more minutes: “This game really played to [Tyson’s] strengths. He was able to shoot and beat the closeouts. He needs to be out there and continue to defend. He played really well today.”
On spreading out the offensive attack: “We’ll take that. 20, 19 and 18 points by three different players. That’s a pretty good day for us. This game was a different feel. It was a six-point game for about 10 or 12 possessions in a 70-possession game. We thought they might work short and give the ball to Davis, who had 26 today.”
On attacking the basket in the second half: “We thought, in the first half, we were settling at times. When we weren’t stretching the floor, we were struggling inside. In the second half, we changed our game from the first half. In the first six minutes, we started to set the tone defensively because we knew we did not have good rhythm. At halftime, I thought, offensively, we needed to attack the basket more instead of settling for jump shots.”
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