Clemson senior big man and Nevada transfer Nick Davidson. @ClemsonMBB - Clemson Mens Basketball

CLEMSON — The word for this Clemson team right now is potential after dominating Gardner-Webb (0-2) 97-59 Friday night in Littlejohn Coliseum.

It’s early, the sample size is small and the competition will only get tougher.

But when you beat anyone by nearly 40 in November, it demands attention.

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This isn’t a roster heavy on continuity.

One returning starter. New roles everywhere. And yet, they already look like a group that’s logged months together, not weeks.

The ball moved. The defense swarmed. The effort never dipped.

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For a November game with so many new pieces, the cohesion was striking.

The tone was set before most fans settled in.

Clemson (2-0) jumped out to a 22-point cushion with 7:45 left in the first half.

When they do that — when they defend first and let the game flow from there — this team looks dangerous.

A big part of that confidence comes from the frontcourt. Nick Davidson continues to look like a player ready to take a real step.

He finished with a game-high 18 points and six boards in 22 minutes, forcing mismatches all night.

Carter Welling, meanwhile, playing like a man trying to earn minutes in bulk with 14 points and 11 rebounds in just 15 minutes is hard to ignore.

And the veteran steadiness around them makes everything easier.

RJ Godfrey went a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor, finishing with 13 points and six rebounds.

Redshirt freshman Ace Buckner again showed why the staff is so high on him with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting adding three assists.

And the other freshman earning trust, Zac Foster, didn’t need scoring to make his mark.

His two points didn’t tell the story. His five rebounds, five assists, and a steal did. He played with control, connected possessions and earned a team-high 24 minutes by doing the little things that make lineups work.

It wasn’t flawless though.

Perimeter shooting still ebbs and flows (10-for-36 from three) and turnover decisions got a little loose in stretches.

But the defensive buy-in and rebounding margin (47-28) were the real headliners. Those travel. Those win games in February and March.

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Clemson doesn’t need to be polished right now. They just need to stack habits, stack minutes and figure out roles. Through two games, you can already see an identity forming.

Potential is a promise, not a guarantee. But nights like this make you want to see what’s next.

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Clemson’s back at it Tuesday night, hosting Morehead State at 7 p.m. on ACCNX.

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