CLEMSON, S.C. _ Turns out it can get worse for North Carolina than a home loss to N.C. State.
The Tar Heels lost one player to a suspension, another to an injury and a third straight ACC game on Tuesday.
No. 20 Clemson poured in 3-pointers like salt in an open wound in the first half and then held on for an 82-78 win over the 19th-ranked Tar Heels.
Junior guard Marcquise Reed made a 3-pointer with 1:41 left to break a 74-74 tie and then fed junior forward Elijah Thomas for a layup and a 79-74 lead with 27.6 seconds left.
Shelton Mitchell put the game away at the free-throw line in the final 16 seconds for the Tigers (18-4, 7-3 ACC).
Cam Johnson had a career-high 32 points to lead a furious comeback for UNC (16-7, 5-5), which trailed by 16 at the half. Senior guard Joel Berry added 27 points but no other UNC player finished in double figures.
The Tar Heels are running out of available scholarship players. A nine-hour flurry of bad news for UNC started with the suspension of freshman guard Jalek Felton before the game and continued with a shoulder injury to senior forward Theo Pinson just 1 minute and 32 seconds into the game.
The Tigers just added to the misery by hitting 15 3-pointers and breaking a 10-game losing streak to the Tar Heels.
It is the first time since the 2013-14 season UNC has lost three straight games. The Heels are just 1-4 on the road in league play.
The Heels expected to be without Felton, a reserve who was suspended indefinitely by the university and is being investigated for a misconduct case, but not Pinson.
The 6-foot-6 senior, who has started every game, fell hard to the floor after he jumped up for a rebound at 18:28 in the first half. Pinson was fouled in the air by Clemson forward David Skara and then braced for his fall and landed awkwardly.
He favored his left arm as he walked into the visiting locker room for treatment. Pinson was unable to return.
UNC's defense has struggled to defend the 3-point line this season with Pinson and it wasn't any better on Tuesday.
The Wolfpack went 15 of 30 in Saturday's 95-91 overtime win and the Tigers picked up where they left off with 10 3s, on 19 attempts, in the first half.
Clemson, playing its third game without senior forward Donte Grantham, who is out for the season with a knee injury, got 20 points from Reed and 17 points from senior guard Gabe DeVoe for its first win over UNC since 2010.
