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No. 18 Clemson learned Tuesday night what it already suspected: perfection was never part of the plan.
The Tigers (16-4, 6-1 ACC) saw their unbeaten conference run come to an end with an 80-76 overtime loss to N.C. State (13-6, 4-2), leaving Duke as the ACC’s lone remaining undefeated league team. It was a familiar script for Clemson — another game defined by resilience, missed opportunities, and thin margins against quality competition.
Even before Tuesday’s setback, Clemson had lived dangerously, erasing double-digit deficits to beat West Virginia and No. 21 Georgia to win the Palmetto bracket of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic. The Tigers also fell behind by 19 points at Alabama and surrendered leads of 22 and 27 points, respectively, against No. 13 BYU in New York and Cincinnati in Greenville at Bon Secours Wellness Center. Each of those games, losses to No. 17 Alabama and BYU and a win over the Bearcats, went down to the wire.
After the Cincinnati victory, head coach Brad Brownell acknowledged the fine line his team has walked all season.
“We’ve played a lot of good halves against the high-major teams,” Brownell said. “We haven’t played a lot of full 40 minutes great. But I think some of that is, it’s hard to do. The other teams are good too. Alabama’s pretty good. BYU is pretty good. Cincinnati is good. And so their coaches are going to make adjustments. Their guys are going to make a couple shots that they miss sometimes. Maybe your defense wasn’t as good but they’re not making it.”
Clemson climbed to No. 18 in the rankings behind timely shot-making, ball security, depth, and an undefeated ACC record. What the Tigers still lack is a true go-to scorer. Seven different players have led in scoring at least once this season, not including true freshman guard Zac Foster, the team’s most versatile and dynamic player, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against South Carolina on Dec. 16.
Brownell was asked after Tuesday's loss whether not having a primary closer hurt late.
“Maybe a little, not having just a guy,” Brownell said. “Obviously, we were getting the ball inside a lot in the second half. But that’s part of it. We’re fine. We’ll learn from this. This happens.”
Senior power forward RJ Godfrey pointed to free throws and turnovers. Clemson shot just 15 of 24 from the free-throw line and committed 13 turnovers — mistakes that proved costly in a game decided in overtime.
“Free throws and turnovers,” Godfrey said. “We got to do better at that, especially myself. I think I missed what — three tonight. Can’t happen.”
Godfrey went 2-for-5 at the line and was one of three Tigers who split a pair of free throws in overtime. The team also struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 9 of 28 (32 percent), missing open looks late.
Those issues haven’t been isolated. During the undefeated ACC run, the Tigers ranked 10th in the league in three-point shooting (.329) and 14th in free-throw shooting (.691). In three of seven conference games, including home contests against SMU and N.C. State, opponents attempted more free throws and shot better from both the line and three-point range. SMU and N.C. State averaged 27 free-throw attempts and shot 35 percent from deep, compared to Clemson’s 24 attempts and 30.5 percent.
The challenge now is response.
“I think just being the same, coming in the same every day, and responding in the right manner,” Godfrey said. “We’ve been through it all. We’ve been a part of some really bad losses, and we’ve seen some of our leaders in the past lift us up. Using that experience and what we’ve learned is going to help us respond the right way.”
The Tigers will get that opportunity Saturday when it travels to Georgia Tech (11-8, 2-4) for a noon tip. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 78-74 road win at N.C. State and present another tough matchup, ranking fourth in the ACC in three-point shooting (39 percent), fifth in blocked shots, and sixth in offensive rebounding.
