CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – It’s only two games into ACC play, but already Clemson may be nearing a key point in their season. A 59-57 loss at young Boston College on Thursday night makes the questions with this team a little more urgent.
Clemson hasn’t been able to put together a three-game winning streak all season thus far. They came into Chestnut Hill hoping to do that for the first time all season, and had their chances to do it. But in dropping this one, they lost a chance to have some real momentum in the midst of a home-heavy stretch. Three of the next four are at home as part of a stretch where they play five of seven in Littlejohn Coliseum, including the next game against Duke.
“We definitely took a big step forward starting ACC play, and here we dropped the ball and took another big step back,” said senior guard Andre Young. “We have to look inward, we have to look at our team and ourselves and our game. We just need to do better at the end of the day.”
Clemson started the second half strong, going up by six in the early going. But rather than continuing the momentum and possibly putting the young Eagles away, they slowed down offensively and allowed Boston College to get right back in it. That alone went a long way toward losing this game. So did allowing the Eagles to shoot over 61 percent in the second half, while they shot just 36 percent.
“We didn’t play well enough defensively,” said head coach Brad Brownell. “We had a six-point lead in the second half and let our guard down for a minute, they threw in a couple of threes, and they feel like they’re going to win the game.”
Clemson had a good advantage in length on the Eagles, and at times they used it well. They consistently thwarted the Eagles in the first half when they got close to the basket and had a 33-23 edge on the glass for the game, allowing just one offensive board. But BC adjusted and came alive in the second half, and once they weathered the early storm it was largely a back-and-forth game.
The Tigers had their ups and downs in non-conference play. They didn’t get a quality win as far as their NCAA Tournament resume is concerned, but they did have home losses to College of Charleston and Coastal Carolina that will hurt. Near the end, they went to Hawaii and took sixth place in the Diamond Head Classic, losing to UTEP and host Hawaii while needing overtime to beat struggling Southern Illinois in the middle game. It looked like they came out of Hawaii in a better place, as they won their next two, including the ACC opener over Florida State. Then Thursday night came and put the brakes on any momentum they had gained.
Clemson has some upperclassmen, led by Young and classmate Tanner Smith, but there are no sophomores on the team, so after that there are only freshmen. They have shown some promise along the way, including Thursday night as T.J. Sapp started and scored 11 points on 3-6 shooting, while Rod Hall gave them a lift off the bench in 15 minutes. Devin Coleman didn’t do much in the stat sheet but looks like he can help this team.
“They’ve been getting better and getting more experience with every game,” said Young. “They’re getting a lot of experience now that we’re in ACC play. Obviously, if we want to be playing late in the season, we’re going to need them.”
At this point, the Tigers can go one of two ways. They can remain an inconsistent team, and likely wind up in the NIT or CBI, or they can get it together and make a good run in the ACC, and beating Duke on Sunday wouldn’t be a bad way to start that. An intangible issue could stand in the way, as Brownell indicated that confidence has been more of an issue than one might expect with this group.
“Our confidence goes up and down too quickly for having some older players,” said the second-year Tiger head coach. “That’s a hard thing to coach.”
What also doesn’t help is that there doesn’t appear to be a clear go-to guy when things get tough. Young leads the team in scoring, but he and Smith look more like glue guys than go-to guys. Different players looked good in spurts on Thursday, and that seems to be how the season has gone thus far.
The ACC isn’t as good as it has been in some other years this time around, so the opportunity will be there to put forth a good record. After North Carolina, Duke and Virginia, the ACC is teeming with ballclubs that are a notch below but could play their way into NCAA Tournament consideration. Clemson is one of those teams, but they will likely need a better run in conference play than most of the others. Entering the week, their RPI was 164.
It’s early in ACC play, and as wide open as the conference is Clemson may be at a key point in their season. The home games, including the quality win opportunity against Duke, give them a chance to get started on the run they need to have. Their chance is right in front of them.
