You had to begin to believe it was Clemson's day when the Tigers began stepping to the free throw line and making shots this afternoon, late in their ACC Tournament semifinal win over Duke. The win set up an ACC title matchup with North Carolina Sunday.

The Tigers, seemingly always last in the ACC in free throw percentage, made six of seven in the final 1:41 to seal a 78-72 win.

"We've been talking about it all year," senior Cliff Hammonds said. "Free throws are going to be big for us in a big-time situation."

Clemson has not been in a situation this big-time since 1962, the last time the Tigers played for the ACC title. How long ago is that? Well this guy [1] scored 21 points for Wake Forest in the championship game. Len Chappell, honored Saturday as an ACC legend [2] , scored 31 points.

No, I didn't cover that game. I was on another assignment.