Aamir Simms Leads Clemson Past Miami

Clemson senior Aamir Simms scored a season-high 25 points and hit the go-ahead basket with 19 seconds remaining in a 66-65 win over Miami.

Ken Ruinard-USA TODAY Sports

Clemson senior Aamir Simms hit a running shot with 19 seconds left to put Clemson ahead by one point and the Tigers forced a late turnover to edge Miami and earn a 66-65 road win Saturday. 

Simms finished with a game-high 25 points and was the only Tiger to score in double figures as Clemson followed up its 77-67 win over No. 18 Florida State with another impressive victory. This squad could very well find itself ranked in the top-25 Monday. 

The Tigers (8-1, 2-1 ACC), who got 8 points and two 3-pointers from Alex Hemenway, led by as many as 12 in the first half but lost the lead late in the first 20 minutes when the Hurricanes (4-4, 0-3) switched to a smaller lineup that Clemson wasn't ready for. However, they battled back from a six-point deficit and pulled out a game that went back and forth down the stretch. 

"I thought the end of the first half we struggled with it a little bit," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. "It looked like we weren't ready and then I thought we made a couple of nice adjustments at halftime. We did a better job of executing against the smaller stuff, smaller-size team, and I thought we played good offensive basketball in the second half." 

Isaiah Wong looked like he nearly gave Miami an improbable win on a full-court pass that he caught and shot with 0.3 seconds left that just missed, but Brownell said after the game it wouldn't have counted. The rule book states that a player can't catch and shoot with that amount of time left. 

Miami was without guard Chris Lykes but Kameron McGusty returned and came off the bench to score nine points. Wong led the team with 13.

Key play: Simms got the ball at the top of the key with under 30 seconds left, drove down the middle of the late and threw a shot up over multiple Miami defenders that banked high off the backboard and into the net for the game-winning hoop.

Player of the game: Not only did Simms set his season-high in points on 10-of-14 shooting, but he also added seven rebounds, four assists and four blocks. 

Freshman impact: P.J. Hall scored seven points off the bench and made three of his four field-goal attempts.  

Injury report: Clemson was without junior forward Hunter Tyson (head injury) and junior guard John Newman III (illness). Brownell said Tyson is close to returning but he wasn't sure if Tyson would be back by Tuesday. Newman had symptoms related to COVID-19 on Thursday so he didn't travel with the team, but he tested negative. 

Up next: The Tigers return home Tuesday for a 7 p.m. ACC matchup with N.C. State. The 6-1 Wolfpack are coming off their first loss of the season at St. Louis, and they're 2-0 in ACC play. 

Coach's words: "You're going to have to find a way to grind out a few of these games like this if you want to finish in the top part of your league. We've got an incredibly short turnaround...so we've got to flush this one as soon as we wake up tomorrow and get ready for NC State real quick." -- Brownell