Demontez Stitt scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds as No. 4 seed Clemson trounced No. 5 seed Boston College, 70-47, in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C. on Friday afternoon.
Clemson (21-10) advances to face No. 1 seed North Carolina in the semifinals on Saturday at 1 p.m. EST.
Jerai Grant finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks for the Tigers. Milton Jennings had 10 points off the bench and Andre Young added nine points for Clemson, which shot 45.1% from the floor and a sizzling 47.1% from three-point range.
Joe Trapani also scored 20 points and had five rebounds to lead Boston College (20-12), which was held to 34% shooting from the field and 24% shooting beyond the arc. Reggie Jackson finished with 11 points on 5-of-13 shooting and turned the ball over six times in the Eagles' loss.
Boston College (20-12) was held scoreless for the first 13:22 before Josh Southern (3 points, 4 rebounds) made 1-of-2 free throws, cutting Clemson's lead to 11-1. The Eagles didn't make their first field goal until the 13:11 mark, when Trapani made a layup to trim the deficit to 13-3.
Facing an early 10-points deficit, the Eagles worked back into the game, using an 11-2 run to bring themselves within five points, 19-14, with 7:17 left in the opening half. Clemson responded with a 9-2 run to rebuilt the lead to 28-16 at the 3:55 mark. The Eagles closed out the first half on a 9-7 run to trim to deficit to 33-25 entering halftime.
Trapani led the Eagles with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting at the break. Jackson was held to three points on 1-of-6 shooting in the opening twenty minutes, and did not score until the 1:47 mark of the half. BC made 8-of-22 field goals to shoot 36.4% from the field and hit just 2-of-11 three-pointers (18.2%) in the opening half.
BC cut the lead to 33-27 in the opening minute of the second, half, but Clemson quickly regained composure and went on an 8-0 run to take a 41-27 lead with 17:09 to go. The Tigers didn't let up for the remainder of the game, outscoring Boston College 29-20 to claim victory and advance to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
2011 ACC Tournament Schedule
Thursday, March 10 - First Round
#9 Miami defeats #8 Virginia, 69-62 (OT)
#5 Boston College defeats #12 Wake Forest, 81-67
#7 Maryland defeats #10 N.C. State, 75-67
#6 Virginia Tech defeats #11 Georgia Tech, 59-43
Friday, March 11 - Quarterfinals
#1 North Carolina defeats #9 Miami, 61-59
#4 Clemson defeats # 5 Boston College, 70-47
#2 Duke vs. #7 Maryland, 7 p.m. ACC Network/ESPN2
#3 Florida State vs. #6 Virginia Tech, 9 p.m. ACC Network/ESPN2
Saturday, March 12 - Semifinals
#1 North Carolina vs. Clemson, 1:00 p.m. ACC Network/ESPN
ACC Semifinal 2 3:00 p.m.* ACC Network/ESPN
Sunday, March 13 - Championship
Championship Game 1:00 p.m. ACC Network/ESPN