The Clemson Tigers were tested against the SMU Mustangs on Thursday night, but will move on to the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament.

Third-seeded Clemson took a shaky first step in pursuit of its first Atlantic Coast Conference title as Chase Hunter scored 21 points in a 57-54 quarterfinal victory over sixth-seeded SMU on Thursday in Charlotte,

In doing so, the Tigers narrowly avoided going one and done in back-to-back ACC Tournaments after getting routed by Boston College in their opener last year. They also kept their chances of a league title and a top 4 NCAA Tournament seed alive.

Clemson must get ready for Louisville, one of the two ACC teams to beat the Tigers. This time around, Clemson should be ready.

Clemson basketball and SMU will face off on Thursday in the ACC Tournament. Here's how to watch, including start time, TV channel and more:

Chase Hunter carried the Clemson Tigers on his back in a second-half comeback against SMU in the ACC Tournament Thursday night in Charlotte.

The sixth-seeded SMU Mustangs (23-10) fought to the finish against three-seed Clemson (27-5), the No. 10 team in the nation, but ultimately fell 57-54, ending their run in this year’s ACC tournament.

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Chase Hunter scored 21 points, Jaeden Zackery added 11 points and No. 10 Clemson battled back to beat SMU 57-54 on Thursday night for its ninth straight win to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals.

Clemson, the No. 3 seed in the ACC Tournament, faced off against No. 6 seed SMU in its tournament opener on March 13. The winner faces No. 2 seed Louisville