Clemson 61, Wake Forest 53: K.J. McDaniels scored 15 points with a career-high 12 rebounds as the host Tigers won for the fifth time in six games.

Jordan Roper added 11 points for Clemson (13-4, 4-1 ACC), which overcame a sluggish offensive start to win its third in a row. The Tigers shot 46.5 percent from the field after going 6-for-20 in the first half, hit 18-of-21 from the free-throw line and blocked 10 shots.

Coron Williams led Wake Forest (12-6, 2-3) with 13 points as the Demon Deacons scored 20 points below their season average. Wake Forest, which trailed by no more than five points for the first 33 minutes, has lost three of its past four contests.

Williams pulled Wake Forest within 41-39 on a 3-pointer with 13:31 remaining, but the Tigers scored nine of the next 13 points. McDaniels scored four consecutive points on a jumper and a layup, Ibrahim Djambo’s 3-pointer with 4:39 to play pushed the advantage to 52-45 and McDaniels’ drive and dunk with 1:56 remaining made it 55-47.

The Tigers hit 13-of-14 free-throw attempts in the first half, carrying a 26-25 advantage into intermission despite shooting 30 percent from the field. Tyler Cavanaugh scored five consecutive points early in the second half for Wake Forest, his three-point play 2 1/2 minutes into the half giving the Demon Deacons a brief 32-30 lead.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Tigers beat Wake Forest for the fifth consecutive time and have won the past four home games against the Demon Deacons. … McDaniels, who leads the ACC in blocks per game, finished with four. … Wake Forest’s Codi Miller-McIntyre, ninth in the ACC in scoring at 15.8, scored six points on 3-of-14 shooting.