What Clemson must do to turn its season around, beginning Saturday against NC State
The Clemson men’s basketball team entered this season ranked in the preseason top 25 poll for the first time since 2009. The Tigers were returning four of five starters from a Sweet 16 team, and expectations were as high as they had ever been under Brad Brownell, who was coming off of a new contract extension.
But as Clemson inches closer toward the midpoint of the ACC season, the Tigers are running out of time to pile up wins as they try to make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Clemson is 11-7 overall and 1-4 in the ACC entering Saturday’s showdown at No. 21 N.C. State (15-4, 3-3). The Tigers are in desperate need of a win as they continue to search for their identity.
“I don’t know that we’ve played as well as we would like on either end,” Brownell said Thursday afternoon. “There are times when I think defensively we’ve been very good... I thought for most of the game against Florida State offensively we were pretty good... (But) we haven’t been as consistent as we would like to be on either end and that’s why we’re 1-4 in the league. That has to change.”
Another reason the Tigers are off to a slow start is the challenging schedule they have faced.
Clemson has already played at No. 2 Duke and against No. 3 Virginia, and the Tigers have also had to go on the road to face Syracuse and Florida State. This will be the fourth road game for Clemson in its first six ACC contests.
“Another top 25 team on the road,” Brownell said. “It’s a hard schedule and these are really good teams and you have to play at a high level for 40 minutes to win... We just haven’t been able to quite put the full 40 together in some of these games. Some of that’s the quality of competition, and some of that’s just not been our ability to finish.”
So what must Clemson do to turn its fortune around? It ultimately comes down to putting the ball through the hoop. The Tigers are averaging about three less points per game than they did a year ago and are shooting 31.2 percent from 3-point range this season after shooting 36.6 percent last year.
“We have to make more shots. That’s the simple truth to some of it is we haven’t shot it as well. When we go back and look at our quality of shots in most games it’s reasonably good... But our numbers aren’t matching that,” Brownell said. “Some of that is a little bit of a mystery. I know we shoot a lot. We bring them in in the morning at certain times and guys stay after practice. And obviously when you’re not scoring as well as you would like then your scrutiny to your defense is even more.”
Game info
Who: Clemson (11-7, 1-4 ACC) at No. 21 Clemson (15-4, 3-3)
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: PNC Arena
TV: Raycom Sports Network
Stream online: Watch ESPN
Radio: 1400 AM in Columbia area, 105.5 in Clemson
Series: N.C. State leads 102-53
Last meeting: Jan. 11, 2018 in Raleigh — N.C. State won 78-77
This story was originally published January 25, 2019 at 9:24 PM with the headline "What Clemson must do to turn its season around, beginning Saturday against NC State."