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Clemson Absolutely Hammers Auburn To Advance To Sweet 16

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That was one of the most dominating performances we’ve seen so far in the Round of 32. Clemson made an an absolute statement in the 84-53 victory over Auburn. They were led by Gave DeVoe’s 22 points while Elijah Thomas pitched in with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

When we talk about surprise teams this year we talk about Auburn, Ohio State, Virginia and Tennessee. One of the teams not listed in that group at first is Clemson – and it absolutely should be. The fact Clemson is in the Sweet 16 after Jarron Blossomgame graduated, who was the best player in the program in some years is pretty ridiculous. Throw in that Clemson has been playing without its arguable best player in Donte Grantham and it’s even more impressive.

I was skeptical of this team heading into the NCAA Tournament and even into the ACC Tournament. They just seemed to be hitting a bit of a wall and I wasn’t sure how good they’d look without Grantham. I mean, hell, this was a program that had Brad Brownell on the hot seat for the last three years or so. But, here they are at 25-9 and in the Sweet 16. They are here due to the top-10 defense and ability to control the tempo of the game. Auburn is a team that wants to get up and down and simply outscore you to win instead of doing it on the defensive side of the ball. Clemson held them to 53 points.

Clemson moves on to play Kansas in Omaha next week.