Tyson Had No Doubt He was Making the Game-Winner

Brownell was confident too

Ken Ruinard / USA TODAY Sports

CLEMSON, S.C. — Brad Brownell had one request of Hunter Tyson before he went back onto the Littlejohn Coliseum floor Saturday night with 14 seconds to play.

“If you are open, shoot it,” the Clemson coach said.

Brownell drew up a play, especially for his graduate senior.

“He is one of our best players and he has been in it. I just felt like he was going to make a play today,” Brownell said. “He had the option. He could shoot the three. He could drive. He could throw it to PJ. He could do different things.”

Freshman Chauncey Wiggins was in charge of inbounding the pass, while PJ Hall set a screen at the right elbow. Wiggins hit Tyson with the pass just to the left of the key, as Virginia Tech’s Hunter Cattoor came flying up to defend.

Tyson shot-faked, getting Cattoor to leave his feet, dribbled to his right and lifted a three-pointer that found the bottom of the net with 10 seconds to play. Tyson’s splash from behind the arc lifted No. 19 Clemson to a dramatic, 51-50, victory over the Hokies.

“PJ set a great screen,” Tyson said. “It just means a lot, Coach Brownell going to me at that moment in the game. I had missed a couple (of shots), but he stayed confident in me. He drew up a play for me and it worked out pretty well.”

Though Tyson finished the night with 12 points and had nine rebounds, it was not a good shooting night for the Monroe, N.C. native. He was just 1-for-6 from behind the arc prior to making the game-winning shot.

In the second half, Tyson, who said he had no doubt the shot was going in, was 0-for-4 from three-point range before he got his chance to win the game.

“I was pretty relaxed. I just took a couple of deep breaths before walking out there,” Tyson said. “I just wanted to trust my work and was really blessed. God blessed me to be in that moment and I was just able to capitalize.”

After Hall set the screen for him on the right elbow, Tyson peaked back to see where Cattoor was.

“I saw there was a little bit of separation, but he was sprinting really hard,” the Clemson forward said. “So, I knew if I shot-faked, he would definitely jump. So, I had plenty of time.”

Tyson could not speak enough on how thankful he was for Brownell believing in him in that moment, especially after he struggled on the offensive end in the second half.

“I have been here a while, and for him to trust me in that moment, it really means a lot,” Tyson said. “Walking out there, I just tried to take a few deep breaths and treat it like any other shot. I have shot thousands and upon thousands of those shots.

“It was just a big moment, and I was able to capitalize.”

Other than the obvious, there was one more reason why Tyson was thrilled to hit the game-winning shot on Saturday night. His younger brother, Cade, is a freshman at Belmont and made the No. 1 play on SportsCenter when he made a similar game-winner in the season opener against Ohio.

“I did not want him to one up me,” Tyson said jokingly.

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