March Madness: Clemson shuts down Caleb Love, Arizona to reach first Elite Eight since 1980

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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 28: Chase Hunter #1 of the Clemson Tigers shoots during the Sweet Sixteen round of the 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Crypto.com Arena on March 28, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ben Solomon/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES — For the first time in more than four decades, Clemson is headed to the Elite Eight.

The Tigers, after shutting down Caleb Love and No. 2 Arizona almost completely in the opening minutes on Thursday night in Los Angeles, held on down the stretch to grab the 77-72 win over the Wildcats. That officially secured just their program’s second ever trip to the Elite Eight. It also marked Arizona’s fourth straight Sweet 16 loss, and second in three seasons under head coach Tommy Lloyd.

For much of the night, Caleb Love and the Wildcats’ offense in general was just off. They got off to perhaps the worst possible start, opening the game on the wrong side of a 16-6 run while Love went 0-of-5 from the field. Clemson continued to take full advantage of the moment, too, and kept its double digit lead deep into the half. Chase Hunter stuffed 7-footer Oumar Ballo at the rim, and then Chauncey Wiggins followed it with a wide-open 3-pointer after Love committed a bad turnover off the backboard.

Ballo cut the game to single digits at halftime with a pair of dunks, including a huge one-handed slam off an assist from Jaden Bradley, but the Wildcats still entered the locker room down by eight.

Finally, that’s when Love and the Wildcats came alive. They came out of halftime on a 12-4 push and tied the game off a huge and-one from Love just minutes into the period. Love then hit another layup exactly two minutes later, which gave them their first lead of the game. Though Clemson stuck with them from there, the Tigers got into foul trouble early. They sent the Wildcats into the double bonus just seconds after the midway point of the half.

But that stretch was very short-lived. Arizona’s offense soon…

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Publish date : 2024-03-29 01:22:18

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