Three-Point Shooting Has Been Key to Success for Clemson Tigers This Season

The three-point line has been key for the Clemson Tigers this season.

Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell during the second half at Littlejohn Coliseum Thursday, November 21, 2024; Clemson, SC, USA. / Ken Ruinard - staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Clemson Tigers were able to bounce back from their first loss of the season with a convincing win over the Radford Highlanders. 

On Thursday, the Tigers were able to improve to (4-1) with an impressive 28-point win over the Highlanders. It was a night and day performance for Clemson, as they understandably struggled in their first road game of the season against the Boise State Broncos. 

However, with the Tigers back at home, they were able to bounce back nicely against an easier opponent. With the win, Clemson finished the first five games of the season with a (4-1) record, as it has been a nice start to the year. 

With the season five games in, a few things have started to emerge as important factors for the Tigers. One of which was three-point shooting. 

In their recent win over Radford, three-point shooting helped carry them to victory, as it was one of the main reasons why they fell short. The Tigers had four players hit multiple three-pointers in the win, including Chase Hunter.

Against the Highlanders, Clemson not only did an excellent job shooting the ball from beyond the arc, but they did a superb job defending against it as well. After the win, head coach Brad Brownell spoke about the three-point game being a key for the Tigers. 

“The second thing on our scouting report was three-point defense was really important in this game and I thought we guarded the ball pretty well,” Brownell said to Ashby Mixon of The Clemson Insider. I thought we fought through screens, I thought we switched on some things properly, and I just thought we had a good plan.”

In the win, Clemson shot 11-for-23 from beyond the arc, which is a very impressive 47.3% clip. What might be even more impressive is that they held Radford to just 20% from three-point range. 

With the three-point shot being so critical in the game now, that type of difference makes it easy to understand why this game was really never close. 

Moving forward, if the Tigers can control the three-point line like that on both ends of the court, they are going to have a lot of success this season. However, finding that consistency on offense from behind the arc will be key for them. 

After the blowout win, next up for Clemson will be a tournament in Florida against the San Francisco Dons from the West Coast Conference.