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.

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

In the first half, neither team was able to put together an extended run, though Clemson never trailed after Schieffelin’s jumper 32 seconds into the contest. Hunter gave the Tigers a 22-14 lead on a left-wing three-pointer, the 198th of his career, with 6:00 to play in the frame, and followed it with a big blocked shot at the other end.

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