Dawes' career-best 22 leads Clemson past BC 82-64

Al-Amir Dawes scored a career-high 22 points and hot-shooting Clemson coasted to an 82-64 victory over Boston College Saturday for its ninth consecutive win over the Eagles.

It was the Tigers’ (14-12, 8-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) third straight victory after a three-game losing streak. They haven’t lost to BC since a 68-61 setback at Littlejohn Coliseum on March 5, 2013.

Aamir Simms added 12 points. Hunter Tyson, John Newman III and Tevin Mack each scored 11 for Clemson, which shot 68.9 % and made 12 of 23 on its 3-point attempts. The Tigers were shooting over 70% with around four minutes left.

Jay Heath led BC (13-15, 7-10) with 16 points. Jared Hamilton added 12 points on Senior Night.

Clemson led 41-29 at intermission.

The dominance continued into the second half when the Tigers scored the first eight points during a 13-2 run that pushed their lead to 23. Dawes capped the spree with a 3-pointer from the left corner.

The Tigers had opened the game by scoring the initial 10 points and hit 10 of 11 shots during a stretch midway into the first half, pulling to a 36-21 edge on Dawes’ 3 from the top of the key.

On the defensive end, Clemson played tight man-to-man, limiting BC to many tough shots as the possession clock was winding down numerous times.

BIG PICTURE

Clemson: The Tigers have an interesting resume. They’ve beaten two teams in the AP Top 10 — then-sixth ranked Louisville on the road last Saturday and then-No 3 Duke on Jan. 14 — but have conference losses at Pittsburgh and Wake Forest. If they can finish the regular season strong and have a decent showing in the league postseason tournament, they could have an outside shot at an NCAA tourney berth.

Boston College: It was a miserable loss in what was shaping up to be a respectable season. The up-and-down Eagles have won their seven ACC games by an average margin of four points and coming in their losses were by an average of 18.8.

STILL LOOKING

Clemson is the only ACC team that BC coach Jim Christian doesn’t have a victory over in his six seasons in charge.

STRONG START

The Tigers shot 69.6% in the opening half (16 of 23) and connected on 50% (6 of 12) from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT

Clemson: At Georgia Tech on Tuesday.

Boston College: Hosts Notre Dame Wednesday.