Senior guards Tanner Smith and Andre Young combined for 32 points and nine assists, and Clemson used smothering defensive to blow out visiting Winthrop 60-40 on Saturday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Clemson (5-4) had lost home games to three in-state rivals — College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina and South Carolina — this season, but they had no trouble improving to 9-1 all-time against Winthrop.
The Eagles (4-7) were even more ineffective than usual on the offensive end. They entered averaging a paltry 65.1 points, but they shot 31.9 percent en route to their lowest-scoring output since a 42-40 loss to High Point on Jan. 7, 2009.
The Tigers had no trouble scoring, thanks in large part to its senior guard duo. Smith matched a career-high with 17 points and five assists and held Winthrop leading scorer Andre Jones to 12 points, and Young added 15 points and four assists.
Young has made at least one 3-pointer in 43 of his past 44 games and needs eight 3-pointers to become the six player in school history with 200.
