In a close Syracuse basketball game, one Clemson player made the difference

Syracuse, NY – Syracuse lost to Clemson 64-61 on Wednesday at the JMA Wireless Dome.

In these one-possession games, every fumbled pass, every missed free throw, every clanging shot, every missed defensive assignment is scrutinized.

These games are so fragile that one game – or in the middle of a series of games – can decide the outcome.

During a two-plus minute stretch late in the game, Clemson’s Dillon Hunter was the backbreaker.

He made two 3-pointers, then converted a layup with 3 minutes, 26 seconds left in the game. During that stretch, Clemson pulled ahead 59-50.

Against the Tigers, a physical team that makes opponents work on offense, Syracuse faced a tough task.

“Well, those were probably the two biggest shots of the game for us,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said of Hunter’s dagger 3s. “…He showed he was ready for that moment. I mean, he wanted those shots.”

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To put Hunter’s consecutive 3s into perspective, consider this: Clemson was 1-for-10 from the 3-point line in the first half. The Tigers finished the game 4:16.

Until those crucial moments of glory, Hunter had a total of two points in Wednesday’s game. Clemson’s top guard, the 113-game guy, is in dire straits only in a Clemson uniformwas a non-factor against the Orange.

Until he wasn’t.

“I thought we did a good job of hitting the 3-point shot for the most part,” SU coach Adrian Autry said. “It was two big games, but things like that happen.

They happened Wednesday for a guy who is shooting 48.6% from 3-point range in limited attempts (17-for-35). They happened because one player was able to change the look of the entire game.

“He didn’t really do anything,” SU quarterback Naithan George said, “but in my opinion those were the biggest shots of the game for them.”

“It’s a two-possession game and then he went on an 8-0 run by himself,” SU’s Tyler Betsey said. “I mean he doesn’t and we’re probably going to win that game.

On Wednesday, Syracuse exceeded expectations at the free throw line (20 of 24). It got to the line 12 times more than Clemson, hanging on by a single rebound from the Tigers. She squeezed 18 points and nine boards out of her returning star in Donnie Freeman and blocked six Clemson shots.

That wasn’t enough.

Clemson crushed the Orange in points in the paint (46-24).

But those two Dillon Hunter 3-pointers gave the Tigers a nine-point lead with more than three minutes left.

Syracuse pulled to within two with 43 seconds left.

Eventually, Orange ran out of time and ammunition.

“It’s so close as far as conference play goes,” Betsey said. “Most conference games come down to the last possession or the last two, three possessions.