Field Level Media
Dec 31, 2019
Chris Lykes scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half as Miami rallied to a 73-68 overtime victory over Clemson on Tuesday afternoon in South Carolina.
Lykes, a junior guard, finished one point shy of his career high. He made 10 of 16 shots from the floor, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range, as the Hurricanes won a fifth consecutive game to improve to 9-3 overall and 1-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Clemson (6-7, 0-3) has lost six of its last seven games.
Guard Kameron McGusty, a junior transfer from Oklahoma, joined senior guard Dejan Vasiljevic in chipping in 15 points for Miami.
Clemson held a 55-45 lead with 8:33 remaining before Miami went on a 15-2 run sparked by Lykes to pull ahead with 3:34 left.
But Clemson got a layup from junior forward Aamir Simms and a three-point play from sophomore forward Hunter Tyson to regain the lead, 62-60, before Lykes' layup with 48 seconds left in regulation forced overtime.
The Tigers led 68-66 with 1:56 remaining in overtime, but the Hurricanes tied it up on a pair of free throws by Lykes before Vasiljevic's 3-pointer with 59 seconds left gave Miami the lead for good. Vasiljevic added two free throws with one second remaining for the final margin.
Clemson led by as many as nine points in the first half before Miami heated up. The Hurricanes got seven points from Vasiljevic while outscoring the Tigers 18-9 over the final 10 minutes of the opening half to tie things up at halftime, 26-26.
Clemson was led by Simms, who had 21 points. Junior guard Clyde Trapp, who was making his first start since returning from ACL surgery, added 13 points while graduate guard Curran Scott had 10.
--Field Level Media