Chase Hunter scored 21 points, Jaeden Zackery added 11 points and No. 10 Clemson battled back to beat SMU 57-54 on Thursday night for its ninth straight win to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.

In doing so, the Tigers narrowly avoided going one and done in back-to-back ACC Tournaments after getting routed by Boston College in their opener last year. They also kept their chances of a league title and a top 4 NCAA Tournament seed alive.

Third-seeded Clemson took a shaky first step in pursuit of its first Atlantic Coast Conference title as Chase Hunter scored 21 points in a 57-54 quarterfinal victory over sixth-seeded SMU on Thursday in Charlotte,

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The sixth-seeded SMU Mustangs (23-10) fought to the finish against three-seed Clemson (27-5), the No. 10 team in the nation, but ultimately fell 57-54, ending their run in this year’s ACC tournament.

Chase Hunter scored 15 of Clemson's 29 second-half points to help the Tigers survive SMU in the ACC tournament. Here's how the star guard did it.

Clemson, the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament, faced off against No. 6 seed SMU in its tournament opener on March 13. The winner faces No. 2 seed Louisville

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In a game where both teams struggled to shoot the ball, third-seeded Clemson held off sixth-seeded SMU 57-54 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament on Thursday night inside of the

Chase Hunter carried the Clemson Tigers on his back in a second-half comeback against SMU in the ACC Tournament Thursday night in Charlotte.