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Clemson Basketball

Clemson falls victim to another heart-breaking buzzer-beater, this time at Miami

February 13, 2019
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The Miami Hurricanes just dealt Clemson’s hopes of reaching the NCAA tournament a devastating blow.

And it came in a gut-wrenching fashion that we’ve already seen once before.

As the final seconds of the game ticked down, and the Tigers held on to a 64-63 lead, Zach Johnson got the ball at the top of the key. Shelton Mitchell did all he could by sticking to Johnson like glue, but Johnson, who was 1-for-8 before that final shot, fired up a contested shot off the backboard that eventually rattled home with .4 seconds remaining.

The Tigers were unable to get a shot off and fell 65-64 in what is probably now their worst loss of the season. Clemson fell to 15-8, 5-6 in the ACC, but the Hurricanes, who are now 11-13 just managed to get their third ACC win in 12 tries.

Clemson’s heart-breaking collapse at N.C. State didn’t cause the Tigers to falter from their hopes of making another Tournament run. After stringing together four straight victories, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had the Tigers as a 10-seed.

But the Tigers needed to keep momentum riding high heading into a stretch where they will face No. 16 Louisville and No. 17 Florida State in back-to-back games. A loss on the road to the Hurricanes was one Brad Brownell and company could not afford.

Clemson was led by Marcquise Reed’s 19 points in the losing effort. Mitchell’s 15 points and Elijah Thomas’ 16 points, nine rebounds were almost enough for the Tigers to get the job done.

But the Hurricanes found their shooting groove in the second half behind DJ Vasiljevic’s career-high 22 points. The slippery, 5-foot-7 Chris Lykes added 21 points to the Hurricanes’ total. This was after a phenomenal 27-point performance for him as Miami fell on the road in overtime to No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday.

The first half of basketball was so ugly, it did not look like either team wanted to be in the arena, much less win the game. Clemson played to what the environment was as both teams put up brick after brick in front of the tens of people watching in attendance.

Both teams Combined to shoot 6-of-29, 0-for-15 from three-point range after the first 10 minutes. We were convinced neither team could throw the ball in the ocean if they were standing on the South Beach shore. But even with those shooting woes, Clemson clung to a 26-24 halftime lead.

The second half was where both teams started to find a bit of a groove offensively.

After Aamir Simms knocked down Clemson’s first three-pointer of the game with 17:08 left in the game (previously 0-for-12), Miami started to heat up and made 11 of its first 14 shots.

The Hurricanes went on a 13-0 run to take what felt like a commanding 43-33 lead. Lykes hit a jump shot and spectacular spinning layup, which was followed up by a three-pointer from Sam Weardenburgh to force Brad Brownell to call a timeout. Then Vasiljevic drained another three-pointer to cap off the run.

Clemson eventually powered back behind a 7-0 run from Clyde Trapp, Mitchell and Thomas to pull within two points.

With less than four minutes remaining in the game, Clemson trailed 61-56. Reed hit six free throws during that stretch, including two with 1:16 to go to take a 63-62 lead. But ultimately Clemson fell short after Johnson’s dagger to the Tigers’ hearts of the backboard.

Clemson ended the game shooting 42-percent from the field, but were doomed by its 3-of-19 performance from long range. The Hurricanes scored 41 points in the second half. By comparison, Clemson only gave up 42 points to Georgia Tech and 37 points to Wake Forest in two games during its win streak.

Clemson also turned the ball over 11 times and had nine bench points. All of a sudden, this team feels like it’s behind the 8-ball as it heads into a critical stretch.

During their winning streak, the Tigers took four steps forward. But on Wednesday night, Clemson took one gigantic step backward, and into a sizeable hole.

Whether its game against Miami was a “must-have” game or a “must-win” game didn’t matter. After getting hit by this hurricane, there may be little chance of recovery.

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Clemson falls victim to another heart-breaking buzzer-beater, this time at Miami

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