PJ Hall scored a game-high 27 points, 20 of which came in the first half, to help lead No. 18 Clemson to a 109-79 victory over visiting Queens on Friday.
RJ Godfrey added 19 points on 8-for-9 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 from there, 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, 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 4 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 begins in January.
–Field Level Media
