Tyson’s 20 lead Clemson to 87-65 win over Detroit Mercy

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Hunter Tyson had a career-high 20 points off five 3-pointers to lead Clemson to its third straight win, 87-65, over Detroit Mercy on Sunday.

The Tigers (3-1) took a double-digit lead in the first half, helped by three of Tyson’s baskets behind the arc, and maintained that lead the rest of the way to take its third consecutive victory after opening the season and Atlantic Coast Conference play with a 67-60 loss at home to Virginia Tech.

Detroit Mercy (0-2) closed to 22-19 on Antoine Davis’ jumper with 7:01 to play. That’s when Clemson took off on a 14-7 run — seven of the points scored by Tyson — to gain control.

Tigers freshman Al-Amir Dawes got things going with a 3-pointer and before Tyson struck from long-range. Tyson added a foul shot and when he hit his third 3-pointer of the period, Clemson was ahead 36-26.

Detroit Mercy got as close as six points, the last time at 58-52 on Sam Hofman’s 3-pointer with 9:37 to go, in the second half, but could not cut the deficit any further.

Tyson, a 6-foot-8 sophomore, surpassed his previous best of nine points scored against Pittsburgh last February.

Aamir Simms had 19 points and eight rebounds for Clemson. Texas and Alabama transfer Tevin Mack added 18 points for the Tigers.

Davis was Detroit Mercy’s leading scorer with 26, although he shot just 6 of 20 from the field. Davis made 12 of his 13 foul shots.

BIG PICTURE

Detroit Mercy: It’s a brutal start to the season for Detroit Mercy, which opened at North Carolina State and will play its first seven games away before its home opener with Eastern Michigan on Dec. 7.

Clemson: The Tigers could use a boost from the outside that Tyson gives them. They came in averaging nine 3-pointers a game but finished 11 of 33 on long-range shots against Detroit Mercy. Tyson finished 5 of 10 from behind the arc.

UP NEXT

Detroit Mercy continues its opening road swing at Wyoming on Tuesday night.

Clemson concludes a five-game homestand to open the season when it faces Alabama A&M on Thursday night.