No. 23 Clemson back in the rankings and rolling in the ACC

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Clemson returned to the national rankings on Monday. The 23rd-ranked Tigers showed a few hours later they plan to be part of the national picture going forward this season.

Clemson followed up a 77-71 win over then-No. 2 Duke on Saturday night by dismantling the Atlantic Coast Conference’s other traditional power in North Carolina, 85-65.

“Very proud of this team,” said Viktor Lakhin, the Cincinnati transfer who had 22 points with a season-high four 3-pointers and helped Clemson take control in the opening half by building a 49-33 lead.

“What we’re doing, we’re obviously not done yet,” added Lakhin, who also had 22 points against Duke two nights earlier. “That’s why we came here, because of the team’s success last year. We just joined to keep it going.”

Last year’s team led by forward PJ Hall and former Syracuse long-range shooter Joe Girard III advanced to the Elite Eight with wins over New Mexico, Baylor and Arizona before falling to Alabama with the Final Four on the line.

With Hall off to the NBA and Girard out of eligibility, Tigers coach Brad Brownell found two more perfect fits in Lakhin, a 6-foot-11 forward, and Boston College transfer Jaeden Zackery to blend with Chase Hunter, the team’s top scorer this season.

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Hunter added 19 points and Zackery had 16 in taking down the Tar Heels. The victory improved Clemson to 20-5, Brownell’s third straight season with 20 or more wins.

At 12-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson is a game behind league-leading Duke and tied in the loss column with surprising Louisville.

Zackery was glad to be back in the AP Top 25 this week, but whether the Tigers were or weren’t doesn’t change their focus on what’s ahead.

“We know there’s a whole thing that we weren’t in it,” Zackery said. “People were mad about it. But we don’t really care about that. We just come out and just prove ourselves every night.”

So far, so good.

Zackery and his teammates did not let the excitement of beating Duke a couple of nights earlier take away their drive to keep winning.

That showed in the stats, as the Tigers outrebounded North Carolina 41-28 — including 15-10 on the offensive end.

“Our inability to keep them off the offensive glass and our inability to get to the offensive glass is something that we just couldn’t overcome,” Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis said.

Brownell was grateful for the recognition his team got to start the week before performing strongly against North Carolina. A ranked Clemson means his team is winning and that’s a good feeling for everyone in the program.

The Tigers were ranked in December, but dropped out after overtime losses to Memphis and rival South Carolina.

Lakhin does not expect the team to slow down this time around. It has won eight of its last nine as the season heads into the final weeks.

Reminded that Clemson already has wins over Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina this season, Lakhin smiled.

“We’re blue bloods, too, now,” he said.

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