Tigers stumbling down stretch with another loss

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — James Johnson scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to lead No. 10 Wake Forest to a 96-88 comeback win over No. 18 Clemson on Sunday.
Johnson hit his first eight shots and finished 10-for-14 from the field, while the Demon Deacons (24-5, 11-5) shot 60 percent in their fourth straight win to secure the No. 2 seed for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.
Al-Farouq Aminu also scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Wake Forest, which rallied from a 10-point first-half deficit to extend its home winning streak over Clemson to 17 games.
Demontez Stitt scored a career-high 21 points and K.C. Rivers also scored 21 for the Tigers (23-7, 9-7), who lost for the third time in four games and will limp into the ACC tournament as the No. 5 seed.
Before leaving the hotel for the arena, Clemson knew it couldn’t secure a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. Florida State’s win over Virginia Tech on Sunday afternoon gave the Seminoles the No. 4 seed and knocked the Tigers into a matchup with last-place Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Thursday.
It was early in the first half when North Carolina finished off Duke, giving the Demon Deacons an opening to earn the No. 2 seed in a tiebreaker over the Blue Devils by extending their home dominance over the Tigers.
While nothing like Clemson’s infamous 0-54 mark at North Carolina, the Tigers’ futility in Winston-Salem dates to 1990. Still, Clemson led 44-34 late in the first half.
After Wake Forest rallied to take a 71-66 lead, Rivers hit a 3 before Johnson went to work.
Johnson, who also had nine rebounds, answered with a 3 that ignited a 7-0 run, and a thunderous one-handed dunk with 4:10 left put Wake ahead 83-71, ending Clemson’s chances of earning a split in the season series.
Stitt, a sophomore averaging 8.4 points coming in, exploded for 15 in the first 20 minutes. He hit a 3-pointer and one of his numerous driving layups put the Tigers ahead 44-34 with 1:19 left.
The Demon Deacons then closed the half on a 6-0 run, capped by Aminu’s fastbreak dunk at the buzzer.
Aminu hit seven of 10 shots coming off the bench. Coach Dino Gaudio started senior Harvey Hale in his final home game.
Chas McFarland added 14 points and eight rebounds for Wake Forest, which held a 38-26 rebounding advantage to offset 19 turnovers.