Wake Forest University
Clemson
No. 24 Wake Forest Clobbers Clemson, 92-60
2/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2001
By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press Writer
CLEMSON, S.C. - Wake Forest coach Dave Odom couldn't remember a half like Wednesday night's since he played in the 1960s.
Demon Deacons forward Darius Songaila said he couldn't even tell what the score was.
By the end of the first half Wednesday night, No. 24 Wake Forest (18-8, 7-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) led Clemson 42-9 and cruised to a 92-60 win.
"It was a shock to me," Songaila said of the first half, during which he scored 10 of his game-high 24 points. "I didn't even know the exact score. I couldn't keep up with it. I was too excited."
Coach Larry Shyatt said he wished his Tigers (11-15, 2-11) could have disappeared at times, but told them this game was "another experience we need to go through," just like the high after the win Sunday against then-No. 1 North Carolina.
Craig Dawson added 19 points and Josh Howard added 14 points and nine rebounds for Wake Forest, who won their second conference road game of the season.
Tony Stockman scored 14 points to lead Clemson, which looked nothing like the team that beat North Carolina.
Will Solomon, the ACC's leading scorer at 21.5 points per game, did not score in the first half. He shot 0-for-3 from the field and turned the ball over five times in the first 20 minutes. He finished with nine points.
Odom said he was pleased with his team holding Solomon to three shots in the first half and the five steals Broderick Hicks got playing just nine of the first 20 minutes.
The nine first-half points marked a season low for a half for the Tigers, and was the least an opponent scored in a half against the Demon Deacons.
The last time Clemson scored fewer points in a half was in the Southern Conference tournament in 1945 when they trailed South Carolina 36-6 at halftime.
Clemson had 13 turnovers, shot just 13.6 percent (3-of-22) from the field and did not have a field goal until Ray Henderson followed his own shot with 9:41 left to cut Wake Forest's lead to 26-4.
Shyatt tried everything to get the Tigers out of their doldrums, including calling two timeouts and picking up a technical - all in the first 10 minutes. But Wake Forest's defense forced Clemson into rushed shots, and the Tigers shot 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half.
The victory moved the Deacons into a tie for fourth place in the ACC, just a half-game behind Maryland and Virginia.
The 32-point loss marked the end of a strange week for Clemson, which sandwiched the North Carolina win between a 34-point loss to North Carolina State on Feb. 14, the Tigers' worst loss in 45 years, and Wednesday's loss.
"That's basketball," Solomon said. "You're on top one night, then you're on the bottom."
Wake Forest's offense methodically churned through the Tigers' defense, scoring the game's first 11 points. The Deacons led 32-4 with 6:37 left when Tomas Nagys hit Clemson's second of three first-half field goals to make it 32-6.
Clemson's offense improved in the second half, but Wake Forest's lead was 30 or more points for most of the half.
The Clemson players and coaches were clearly frustrated. Chris Hobbs got a technical foul in the first half, then an intentional foul that put him on the bench with his fifth foul in the second half.
