Clemson basketball gets career-best night from Chauncey Wiggins in win over South Carolina

CLEMSON – Sophomore forward Chauncey Wiggins scored a career-high 15 points, including 13 in the second half, as Clemson rallied for a 72-67 victory against South Carolina Wednesday night at Clemson’s Littlejohn Coliseum.

Wiggins connected on 5-of-8 shots from the floor, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range.

Every Clemson starter scored in double figures. PJ Hall, the ACC’s leading scorer, had 14 points while Joe Girard had 12 and Ian Schieffelin scored 12 points and had 12 rebounds. Chase Hunter added 10 points.

Clemson (8-0), the lone remaining undefeated team in the ACC, is off to its best start since 2008.

South Carolina (7-1), which suffered its first loss of the season, got a game-high 26 points from Meechie Johnson.

South Carolina forged a seven-point halftime lead, pulling away from a 23-23 tie as Clemson missed its last eight shots from the floor.

The Tigers shot a chilly 31 percent in the opening half. Hall and Girard combined to scored 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, but the rest of the team made only 3-of-16 shots.

Johnson, the Gamecocks’ leading scorer, led South Carolina with 11 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range.

The Gamecocks bolted to an 11-point lead, their largest lead of the game, on a pair of B.J. Mack free throws with 15:02 remaining. But Clemson proceeded to go on an 11-0 run, getting baskets from five different players, to tie the game for a third time.

Schieffelin’s 3-pointer with 5:23 left gave Clemson the lead for good, 57-56, but it was close the rest of the way until the Tigers got some breathing room by making 7-of-8 free throws in the final 37 seconds.

Scott Keepfer covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at skeepfer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ScottKeepfer