By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — North Carolina and Clemson will play for the second time in 10 days, but the Tigers will likely be without a key starter.
No. 19-ranked and No. 4 seed UNC (24–9), of course, will be without Caleb Wilson, but No. 5-seed Clemson (22–9) probably will be without 6–11 junior center Carter Welling (top and below photos).
“I find it unlikely he will play [Thursday],” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said, adding that Welling will undergo an MRI. “But I haven’t been told anything definitive.”
The Utah Valley transfer went down late in the first half of the Tigers’ 71–62 second-round victory Wednesday over Wake Forest with a right knee injury and appeared to be in a lot of pain.
During a drive to the basket, last season’s WAC Defensive Player of the Year stopped and attempted to pump fake. But he collapsed and couldn’t get up without help, went directly to the dressing room and was emotional as he left the court. When he returned to the bench late in the second half, he had a knee brace and needed crutches.
Welling started 24 games this season, including Wednesday’s game, and came into the game averaging 10.4 points and 5.5 rebounds. He had five points and four rebounds when he got hurt.
Welling was a big reason that Clemson had a 34–18 advantage in paint points in the Tar Heels’ 67–63 senior night victory over the Tigers on March 3. He collected 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 30 minutes.
“Some of it was the way North Carolina was guarding us,” Brownell said of Clemson’s inside advantage. “I thought they really were staying pretty tight to our perimeter players, and so there was a little more space maybe. But we’ll have to see how it kind of stacks up [Thursday] in terms of how they play and where we feel like we can find some holes to make a play.”
Nick Davidson, a 6–10 redshirt senior Nevada transfer, would likely start in place of Welling. He had eight points and seven rebounds against the Deacons. He’s averaging 9.1 points and 3.7 rebounds.
It took Luka Bogavac’s hot shooting (career-highs of 23 points and six 3-pointers) and a 12–0 second-half run and some big shots at the end for the Tar Heels to pull out that win in Chapel Hill.
“It was a heck of a game the first time,” Brownell said. “I thought we played very well. Give North Carolina credit; they found ways to make plays down the stretch, made some big threes against us. But it was a heck of a matchup. Our guys competed our tails off. They did, as well. It was a great college game. Hopefully [Thursday] is the same.”
RJ Godfrey scored a career-high 22 points for the Tigers against UNC. Godfrey only scored eight points in Clemson’s final regular-season game, a 79–76 home win over Georgia Tech, and 11 points on Wednesday against Wake Forest.
The stakes will be higher at about 9:30 Thursday night when No. 4-seed UNC becomes the final team to play in the ACC tournament at the Spectrum Center. It will be a Quad 1 game for both teams as each will be trying to boost their NCAA tournament resumes ahead of Selection Sunday.
The winner earns a 9:30 Friday semifinal matchup against the winner of Thursday’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal between No. 1 Duke (29–2) and No. 8-seed Florida State (18–14), which beat No. 9 California 95–79 in another second-round game Wednesday.
Historically, UNC has dominated Clemson in ACC tournament play, winning 15 of 16 matchups, including a 92–87 overtime win in the 2011 semifinals in Greensboro behind Harrison Barnes’ 40 points in the last meeting. The Tigers’ only win, 75–73, came in the 1996 quarterfinals in Greensboro.
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First game: UNC 67, Clemson 63
ACC tournament
Spectrum Center | Charlotte
Tuesday’s first round
No. 15 Pittsburgh 64, No. 10 Stanford 63
No. 11 SMU 86, No. 14 Syracuse 69
No. 13 Wake Forest 95, No. 12 Virginia Tech 89, OT
Wednesday’s second round
No. 7 N.C. State 98, Pittsburgh 88
No. 6 (No. 24 ranked) Louisville 62, SMU 58
No. 8 Florida State 95, No. 9 California 89
No. 5 Clemson 71, Wake Forest 62
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 2 (No. 10 ranked) Virginia (27–4) vs. N.C. State (20–12), noon, ESPN2
No. 3 Miami (24–7) vs. Louisville (23–9), 2:30, ESPN2
No. 1 (No. 1 ranked) Duke (29–2) vs. Florida State (18–14), 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 4 (No. 19 ranked) North Carolina (24–7) vs. Clemson (23–9), 9:30, ESPN
Friday’s semifinals, ESPN or ESPN2
Va.-State winner vs. Miami-Louisville winner, 7 p.m.
Duke-FSU winner vs. UNC-Clemson winner, 9:30
Saturday’s championship
8:30, ESPN
Photos courtesy of the ACC
