Field Level Media
Mar 19, 2019
Marcquise Reed scored 24 points as Clemson held off Wright State 75-69 Tuesday in a first-round NIT game at Clemson, S.C.
No. 2 seed Clemson improved to 20-13 and advanced to host the winner of Wednesday night's game between No. 3 seed Furman and No. 6 seed Wichita State.
Wright State, the No. 7 seed, concluded its season 21-14.
Reed, a graduate guard, made 9 of 19 shots from the floor en route to his 15th game scoring 20 or more points this season.
Senior forward Elijah Thomas added 17 points for Clemson while graduate forward David Skara had 16 points, including a career-high four 3-pointers.
Sophomore guard Clyde Trapp added 12 points while starting in place of graduate point guard Shelton Mitchell. Mitchell, who had started each of the Tigers' 32 games this season and was the team's third-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game, missed the game with a sore knee. His status for the remainder of the NIT is uncertain.
Clemson dominated the game early, jumping out to a 16-2 lead before the Raiders came to life. Wright State closed the first half by outscoring the Tigers 31-17 and tying the game at 33-33.
The Raiders pulled ahead by six, their largest lead of the game, at 47-41, but Clemson went on a 14-3 run sparked by six straight points from Thomas.
Wright State led 62-60 with 4:04 left before the Tigers closed the game on a 15-7 run, converting 5 of 6 free throws in the final 1:24.
Junior forward Bill Wampler led the Raiders with 17 points. Sophomore center Loudon Love had 14 points, junior guard Cole Gentry scored 13, senior guard Mark Hughes 12 and freshman guard Skyelar Potter added 11 for Wright State.
It marked the first-ever meeting between Clemson and Wright State, which was Clemson coach Brad Brownell's last stop before being named head coach at Clemson in 2010. Brownell coached the Raiders for four seasons between 2006-2007 and the 2009-2010 seasons, leading the team to four straight 20-win campaigns.
--Field Level Media