GREENVILLE, S.C. (Interstat) — Clemson withstood a second-half surge from SMU to win its Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball opener 74-70 on Wednesday night at Bi-Lo Center.

The Tigers led 34-25 at halftime before the Mustangs’ offense awakened, but Clemson did enough to improve to 13-3. SMU fell to 12-3.

Boopie Miller led all scorers with 23 points for SMU. RJ Godfrey paced Clemson with 17 points. An announced crowd of 8,134 watched the home team secure the victory after being favored by 4 1/2 points.