Clemson Player Out for the Season
CHARLOTTE — Clemson will be without one of its starters tonight when it faces Louisville in the ACC Tournament Semifinals at the Spectrum Center.
The Clemson Insider has confirmed that starting guard Dillon Hunter has a broken hand and will be out for the remainder of the season. Clemson head coach Brad Brownell confirmed the news to TCI.
Hunter injured his hand in the first half of Thursday night’s 57-54 win over SMU in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals. Clemson ran tests this morning to see if there was a break or not in Hunter’s hand, and as Brownell feared last night, it was indeed a break.
“I don’t think it’s good. I think he probably broke his hand,” the Clemson head coach said Thursday night after the SMU win. “Obviously, it’s a little bit of an emotional letdown for your team when the guy’s been playing so hard, you get to this time of year, the time of year you want to play and it goes sideways.”
Hunter was limited to just eight minutes after making his eighth start of the season against the Mustangs. While the junior guard is only averaging 5.6 points per game, what he brings to the team can’t always be measured by the box score.
Hunter has developed into a strong defender for Brownell’s squad, as well as a reliable ball-handler. He’s turned it over just 13 times all season while averaging more than 23 minutes per contest.
The Tigers were 8-0 when Hunter started this season, all during the team’s current nine-game win streak.