CLEMSON — It starts with a little extra effort, a second-chance rebound, a steal, a forced turnover.

That’s how Clemson operates under Oliver Purnell: they wear you down.

Wednesday night, it happened to Wofford.

Clemson broke open a close first-half game with suffocating defensive pressure and effective offense, ending the first half on a 30-9 run and coasting to an 93-40 rout in its home opener inside Littlejohn Coliseum.

“Just the fact that we were able to enforce our will on the opponent,” said sophomore guard Terrence Oglesby, “was good for us.”

The Tigers improved to 4-0, while Wofford fell to 0-2. Oglesby led all scorers with 15 points, while senior center Raymond Sykes added 14 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Senior guard K.C. Rivers had 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. Junior forward Trevor Booker played through an injured ankle and contributed nine points, five assists and four rebounds.

Wofford shot just 27.7 percent from the field, and only one Terrier — reserve Noah Dahlman, who had 14 points — scored more than six points.

Early on, the Terriers’ defense appeared to frustrate Clemson; the teams were tied at 12 with 10 minutes to play in the first half.

Sykes jump-started a much-needed rally. With the game tied at 14, Sykes missed at close range, got his own rebound and fired again, this time connecting while being fouled by Tim Johnson.

He converted the 3-point play, and Clemson defensive pressure forced the Terriers to throw the ball away before reaching midcourt. Oglesby’s basket gave Clemson a five-point lead, and after a Wofford miss, David Potter drove for a layup of his own.

Potter stole the Wofford inbound pass and fed to forward Trevor Booker, who made the basket while being intentionally fouled by Brad Loesing. He made both free throws, too. Clemson got the ball back after the foul, and Demontez Stitt nailed a jumper.

Suddenly, Clemson led 27-14 — and Wofford had only crossed mid-court once.

“It’s a combination of turning them over and turning the turnovers into points,” Purnell said. “We had a good offensive rhythm. We were running, we were getting the ball in between, but we were getting extra opportunities because we turned them over.”

That’s Clemson’s game, Oglesby said.

“That’s how we play. We’re a team of runs,” he said. “When you play the way we do, we’re going to score in bunches, and the thing is, it can go the opposite way too. But we were able to sustain ourselves and do a good job, and defensively we picked up the pressure big time.”

The Terriers cut the lead back to 30-19, but a 9-0 Tiger run fueled a 42-23 halftime advantage.

The second half featured more of the same; Clemson scored the first seven points and led 51-27 with 15:58 left. The margin grew from there. Tanner Smith’s behind-the-back dish to Sykes for a tomahawk slam capped off a 12-0 run and gave the Tigers a 72-34 lead with 8:22 to play.

“The fact that we got better as the game went on without a letup was good,” Purnell said. “The best example is coming out of the half up pretty big. We came out with a tough mindset and kept the pedal down.”

Before the game, Purnell worried about Wofford’s sagging zone defense, and said if the Tigers didn’t solve it, a close game could result. Making matters worse, Oglesby said the team had “our worst practice since I’ve been here” Monday.

“It’s kind of a fool’s gold defense,” Purnell said of Wofford’s system. “You make a couple of jump shots and then you become jump-shot happy. Then if you shoot poorly, all of a sudden, you’re in a close ballgame.”

No worries. Clemson made nine of 24 3-pointers, enough to open the Terriers’ defense for penetration and easy drives — the Tigers shot 52.3 percent from the field.

Some very impressive defense — both pressure and half-court — helped too. Clemson entered the game holding opponents to 38 percent shooting while winning the Charleston Classic, and was even better Tuesday.

They forced 21 turnovers while committing only nine, and scored 38 points off turnovers to Wofford’s five. And longtime Clemson fans will be pleased to note that the Tigers’ impressive early-season free throw shooting continued; Clemson made 16 of 18 from the night at the line, an 88.9 percent clip.

“It helps you win games, there’s no question about it,” Purnell said. “It helped us win two of the three games at (Charleston). I saw a lot of balls going in from the free throw line and it just expands your lead. If you’re in a game like this, it can really expand your lead. You look up there and you’re up 25, and sometime in the past you might be up 14 and worried about them hitting a couple of 3’s or something like that.”