Turner, who had five boards and five assists, had three buckets in that deciding spurt, which Jamaal Magloire capped with a layup to build a 57-49 lead with 6:44 to go.
"We had them down, 47-42, and really had a chance to open up a lead and do something with it," Tigers coach Rick Barnes said. "But our offense hurt us. We turned the ball over, and gave them some easy baskets."
Buckner's layup pulled Clemson within 59-54, but Scott Padgett hit a layup and Allen Edwards sank a short hook shot to make it 63-54 with four minutes remaining. Buckner and Turner exchanged free throws before Padgett drained a 3-pointer a minute later, increasing the advantage to 67-55 as the Wildcats cruised the rest of the way.
"It was a hard-fought game like we knew it would be," Wildcats coach Tubby Smith said. "Our guys showed a lot of character, heart and maturity to come back as many times as we did in the second half."
Padgett scored 15 points and Edwards 13 for the Wildcats (4-1), who avenged a 79-71 loss to Clemson in the Tip-Off Classic last season.
"It feels real good to beat them," Turner said. "I thought we could have beat them last year. So as far as I'm concerned, we're 1-1 with them."
Terrell McIntyre chipped in with 12 points and seven assists as the Tigers (3-2) dropped their second straight game after opening the season with three victories.
"We had a couple of turnovers, back-to-back, in the frontcourt. That got them going," Buckner said. "We made it easy for them. That was the turning point of the game. We couldn't get back into it."
McIntyre hit just 4-of-14 from the field as Clemson shot 39 percent (23-of-59) overall. The Wildcat press helped force 19 Tiger turnovers.
(7) Kentucky 76, (12) Clemson 61
CLEMSON (61)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Jamison 26 2-4 1-4 5-9 1 1 5
Christie 19 3-5 0-0 0-0 1 1 8
Wideman 28 1-2 1-2 3-6 1 2 3
Mcintyre 37 4-14 2-2 1-1 7 3 12
Buckner 30 7-15 1-2 1-2 1 3 19
Iturbe 19 3-11 0-0 1-3 1 4 8
Whitt 16 2-5 0-1 3-3 2 2 4
Woni 9 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Miller 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Allenspach 9 1-2 0-0 1-4 0 1 2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-59 5-11 15-29 14 18 61
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.390, FT-.455. 3-Point Goals:
10-23, .435 (Christie 2-3, Mcintyre 2-7, Buckner
4-7, Iturbe 2-5, Miller 0-1). Team rebounds: 7.
Blocked shots: 1 (Woni). Turnovers: 19 (Christie
4, Buckner 3, Iturbe 3, Mcintyre 3, Jamison 2,
Miller 2, Whitt 2). Steals: 5 (Buckner, Mcintyre,
Miller, Whitt, Wideman).
KENTUCKY (76)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Edwards 30 6-8 0-0 1-1 3 1 13
Padgett 24 6-10 1-2 5-5 2 3 15
Magloire 20 4-7 0-0 3-5 0 4 8
Turner 35 6-10 4-6 0-5 5 2 17
Sheppard 22 2-10 0-2 0-3 3 0 5
Mohammed 16 3-4 4-5 1-6 1 2 10
Evans 23 3-4 1-2 0-2 1 1 8
Mills 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0
Anthony 8 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Smith 10 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Bradley 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 30-56 10-17 10-28 16 13 76
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.536, FT-.588. 3-Point Goals:
6-14, .429 (Edwards 1-2, Padgett 2-2, Turner 1-2,
Sheppard 1-6, Evans 1-1, Smith 0-1). Team
rebounds: 11. Blocked shots: 2 (Padgett,
Magloire). Turnovers: 14 (Evans 3, Mohammed 3,
Edwards 2, Turner 2, Anthony, Magloire, Mills,
Padgett). Steals: 9 (Turner 3, Padgett 2,
Sheppard 2, Evans, Mohammed).
__________________________________
Clemson 34 27 - 61
Kentucky 35 41 - 76
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 4,306.
Officials: Mike Wood, Lloyd Boudreaux, Curtis Shaw.