How PJ Hall, Joseph Girard III led Clemson basketball past Boston College to end 3-game slide
CLEMSON -- PJ Hall and Joseph Girard III scored 26 points apiece as Clemson snapped a three-game losing streak with an 89-78 victory against Boston College on Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Big games by the team's top two scorers enabled No. 22 Clemson (12-4, 2-3 ACC) to defeat Boston College (10-6, 1-4) for the 11th time in their past 13 meetings. The Eagles, who have lost three of their past four games, were playing without two starters – leading scorer Quentin Post and Prince Aligbe – because of illness, and the Tigers capitalized, dominating inside against the smaller Eagles.
“I thought our guys showed really good poise and patience,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We thought we had an advantage inside -- certainly Quentin Post not playing for them helped us with the size a little bit inside. We did a nice job. I’m really proud of the way our guys handled it.”
Still, Boston College was able to keep it close for a while and trailed by just two points, 31-29, with four minutes left in the first half. But Girard scored six points during a 13-6 run to close the half and give the Tigers a nine-point cushion.
The Eagles cut Clemson’s lead to six, 46-40, early in the second half, but the Tigers responded with a 13-2 run to take command.
Clemson improved to 7-1 this season at Littlejohn and 16-3 over the past two seasons combined.
Here are key takeaways from the victory against Boston College:
Clemson center PJ Hall responds with one of best games
PJ Hall responded in a big way to a challenge issued by Brownell after the Tigers’ loss at Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
Brownell urged his center out of Dorman High to “fight harder for better position and play like an All-American.” Hall obliged, turning in one of the best games of his career and once again flashing the talent that he showed at the NBA’s G League Elite Camp and NBA Combine last year.
Hall acknowledged his struggles in the team's last two games.
“It was a combination of getting caught up in the 3-ball a little bit and getting away from what I’m good at – my fundamentals of how I play – physical down low and tough shots inside,” Hall said. “I thought we did a great job of imposing our will.”
In addition to his 26 points and 11 rebounds, Hall converted all six of his free throw attempts and had two blocks and a steal. He made 10-of-18 shots en route to his eighth 20-point game of the season and his third double-double.
Clemson's Joseph Girard III moving on up
Girard, who also had 26 points against Boston College, continues to move his way up the ACC’s all-time 3-point leaders list. His 3-pointer with 3:30 left in the first half was the 342nd of his career, tying him with former Duke standout Trajan Langdon for fourth place on the league’s list. Langdon played for the Blue Devils from 1995-99.
Girard, who has made a gaudy 48% of his 3-point shots in his career against Boston College, added four 3-pointers in the second half to break the tie and move into fourth place alone. After going 1-for-9 from beyond the arc in the Tigers' previous two games, Girard went 5-for-11 on 3-pointers against the Eagles.
“That was huge,” Brownell said. “It was good to see him get going.”
Next up on the list? Former Georgia Tech star Dennis Scott, who had 351 3-pointers from 1988-90.
Godfrey emerging as key player off Clemson's bench
Sophomore forward RJ Godfrey continues to make progress, emerging as the Tigers’ most valuable sixth man. His latest effort was impressive – 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting in just 19 minutes of play against Boston College.
Godfrey has scored 52 points in the Tigers’ past six games while shooting an impressive 24-of-31 from the field, or 77.4%, and proving further evidence of his value to this team.
“Very important,” Brownell said. “RJ’s a little more bouncy, athletic, runs well. You’ve got to have three or four good players in the post, and between PJ, RJ and Ian (Schieffelin) those guys do a nice job for us.”
Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ScottKeepfer
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: PJ Hall scores 26 points as Clemson cruises past Boston College in ACC
