Story Poster
Photo by © Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Clemson Basketball

Three Takeaways from Clemson's win over No. 19 North Carolina

January 31, 2018
2,593

CLEMSON -- Clemson basketball fans woke up this morning with a breath of fresh air after their team ended a 10-game losing streak to the Blue-Blooded Tar Heels.

The Tigers are now 18-4, 7-3 in conference play after the 82-78 win and have an NCAA tournament bid almost certainly in their grasp.

Clemson’s ability to close out the game after it gave up a 10-point lead with 5:40 left was yet another example of how this team has turned things around after the misfortunes of last season. The Tigers are 6-1 in games decided by five points or less, which leads the ACC.

There were so many factors that went into Clemson’s win from top to bottom, but here are our three biggest takeaways from Tuesday night’s action:

 

Clemson will live by the 3 and die by the 3…, but maybe that’s okay:

The Tigers made 15 three-pointers last night, ten in the first half, on 30 attempts. That’s the most made three-point attempts in a game for Clemson since Brad Brownell took over as its head coach.

Clemson has now won four consecutive ACC games when it makes at least nine three-pointers. This team seems to prefer to shoot the ball from behind the arc. Every player on the floor has the confidence to shoot, and it starts with Gabe DeVoe who said he’s looking for his shot once he crosses half court.

© Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Marcquise Reed continues to make big shots for Clemson and last night he helped deliver Clemson to an 82-78 win over North Carolina. 

Does Clemson even care about two-point field goals at this point? In its game against Georgia Tech, Clemson didn’t make a two-point shot until 8:49 remained in the first half. We didn’t think Clemson would go on a drought like that again from inside the arc.

But we were wrong. The very next game against North Carolina, Clemson didn’t make a two-point field goal until 7:48 remained in the first half. This time, it played to the Tigers’ favor because they were on fire from long range.

Brownell was asked if he was concerned about his team’s three-point shooting in the first half because they may have wanted to look for that shot every trip down the floor. His response was interesting.

“Yes, but I think that’s part of who we need to be,” Brownell said. “That’s who we can be all the time in certain games because that is what’s there. I think sometimes people make too much out of that. They forget you have games like tonight where you make 15 of 30. Now, we’ll probably have a game where we’ll go 5-for-20, and we’ll probably lose. Then, you’ll be like, ‘well, they take too many threes.’ Well, those threes won us the game against North Carolina. Those threes won us the game against Georgia Tech."

“You got to be who you are. One of the things we can do is make shots. We talked about it, but we weren’t harping on that a whole lot because I don’t want my guys second-guessing. I want them to play free.”

One of the main parts of Clemson’s offensive identity has become shooting the three. The Tigers will live by the three and die by the three, but that seems to have worked out well for them so far.

 

Not a one-man show:

Every player that touched the floor for Clemson last night played with a purpose and played a part in Clemson’s victory.

Shorthanded without Mark Donnal and Donte Grantham, the Tigers didn’t miss a beat. More guys had to step up and make plays, like Clyde Trapp and Malik William, and that’s just what they did.

"That’s one of the biggest differences between my team this year. Some years past, we might have had one. This year I think we have multiple guys that can make a big play."
- Brad Brownell

It all started with Clemson’s “elite” guard play.

Marcquise Reed led the way for Clemson with 20 points while Shelton Mitchell and DeVoe combined for 27 points of their own.

We said earlier in the week that Reed is Brownell’s closer and we still believe that theory after his 13 second-half points and his second go-ahead bucket in 48 hours.

But we asked Brownell if he would define Reed as his “closer,” and he hesitated. He began by saying “yes," but there was more to it than just that.

“You got to have multiple playmakers,” Brownell said. “That’s one of the biggest differences between my team this year. Some years past, we might have had one. This year I think we have multiple guys that can make a big play. We lost one guy. At one time, we had five starters who could go for 20 points. Aamir (Simms) and (David) Skara aren’t ready to do that yet, but the other four guys are certainly able to do all that.”

It is going to take a big night from one of Clemson’s top four players each game if it wants to keep up its winning ways. The good news is: four guys are capable, and it’s not a one-man show.

 

NCAA Tournament drought coming to an end?

Sitting at 18-4 and 7-3 in conference play, it looks like Clemson’s seven-year NCAA tournament drought could finally come to an end.

Clemson possesses the 8th-toughest schedule in the country and now has wins over three teams currently ranked in the top 25 (North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio State). Add that with two other good wins against Louisville in Miami, who were previously ranked, and you have a nice resume.

The Tigers have not taken part in the madness of March since 2011, Brad Brownell’s first season as a head coach. After Clemson squandered a 20-point lead at home to Oakland to lose in the NIT, many fans didn’t think Clemson would make it back with Brownell calling the shots.

No one thought Clemson would be having the year it's having right now.

Clemson possesses the 8th-toughest schedule in the country and now has wins over three teams currently ranked in the top 25 (North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio State). Add that with two other good wins against Louisville in Miami, who were previously ranked, and you have a nice resume.

What also plays into Clemson’s favor is that they have no bad losses. The Tigers are undefeated at home, and all of their losses away from home have been from a close margin (except for the beat down in Charlottesville).

Clemson now sits at No. 5 in RPI and has that signature win to add to its resume.

If Clemson can close out the season winning the games it’s supposed to; an automatic NCAA tournament berth may be on the horizon for Brownell’s squad.

 
×
subscribe Verify your student status
See Subscription Benefits
Trial only available to users who have never subscribed or participated in a previous trial.