LOS ANGELES — The Clemson basketball team was unfazed by pregame “U of A” chants.
Chase Hunter scored 18 points and converted a three-point play with 25.7 seconds remaining, and Clemson used stifling perimeter defense and clutch shooting to advance to the Elite Eight for the second time in school history, beating Arizona, 77-72, in a West Region semifinal on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
PJ Hall added 17 points for the sixth-seeded Tigers (24-11), who advanced to face either top-seeded North Carolina or No. 4 seed Alabama.
Clemson last reached the final eight in 1980, when there were only 48 teams in the NCAA Tournament. Coach Brad Brownell was making his second appearance in the second weekend of March Madness in his 14 seasons with the Tigers.
“We’ve battled a lot of things. This is a great moment for Clemson basketball,” Brownell said.
Hunter, a senior guard, added seven rebounds and five assists to his team-high point total. Senior center PJ Hall had 17 points and eight rebounds, and junior forward Ian Schieffelin added 14 points and seven rebounds.
After upsetting No. 3 seed Baylor in the second round and rallying around Brownell, the Tigers came into the game with momentum.
“It always means a lot when your players have your back,” Brownell said before the game.
Arizona (27-9), the Pac-12 regular-season champion was held to 37.3% shooting (25 for 67) overall and had a particularly horrific showing from 3-point range, going 5 for 28 (17.9%). Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love had 13 points, but missed all nine of his 3-point shots as the Wildcats failed in their bid to reach the Elite Eight for the 12th time overall and the first time since 2015.
Sophomore guard Jaden Bradley had 18 points to pace Arizona, and senior center Oumar Ballo had a double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Love, a senior guard, converted a layup to cut Clemson’s lead to 75-72 with 15 seconds left.
However, sophomore guard Dillon Hunter went unaccounted for behind Arizona’s defense when the Wildcats were supposed to foul and made a layup through contact for a 77-72 lead with nine seconds left.
The Tigers led by as much as 13 in the first half and were locked in early defensively, which forced the Wildcats to miss their first six shots. Clemson led 39-31 at halftime.
However, Arizona responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by Ballo’s big dunk off a no-look pass from sophomore guard Kylan Boswell to trim the margin to 43-40. A three-point play from Love tied the score at 43-all early in the second half.
Chase Hunter, who scored Clemson’s first six points of the second half, put the Tigers back up 45-43 with a mid-range jump shot.
Love’s steal and layup gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 46-45, but 3-pointers from Jack Clark and Joseph Girard III gave Clemson a 53-48 lead.
Arizona tied the score at 56-all on two free throws by Bradley. However, Hall’s layup and Schieffelin’s 3-pointer put Clemson ahead 61-56 with 8:56 remaining. Hall’s wide-open dunk gave Clemson a 65-58 advantage.
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Bradley’s effort kept Arizona within striking distance and his dunk cut the deficit to 66-63 with 3:26 left. Hall made two free throws, but Ballo’s layup got Arizona within 68-65. Hall’s driving layup again established a five-point lead, but Ballo responded with another inside basket to get the Wildcats within 70-67 with 1:29 remaining. Hall’s dunk off an inbounds pass made it 72-67 with 1:05 left, but a Bradley 3-pointer cut to 72-70 with 49.4 seconds left, setting the stage for Clemson’s finishing kick.
Chase Hunter put the game out of reach when he drove for his layup while being fouled by Bradley with 25.7 seconds left. Hunter’s free throw made it a five-point game.
“I just wanted to make a play,” he said. “At the end of the day, I wanted to get to the basket, wanted to get an and-1, wanted to make something happen, and that’s what I did.”
More to come on this story.