Things have escalated quickly for Clemson’s men’s basketball team, and not in a good way.
This time a week ago, the Tigers were fresh off a hard-fought win at North Carolina State. It was their fifth victory in a span of six games, which, at least in the eyes of ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, had Clemson in the bubble conversation for the NCAA Tournament after their first four ACC games.
Now becoming part of that chatter again is going to take a lot of work. The Tigers head to Syracuse for a 9 p.m. tip today looking to stop the bleeding after a couple of bad hiccups.
“We’ve got to hang in there and stick together when it’s not going well,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.
The Tigers (10-7, 2-4 ACC) have lost three of their last four games after dropping both of their games last week. And while losing is never easy to stomach, how it happened was particularly painful for Clemson.
First, the Tigers suffered their largest margin of defeat in a midweek loss at hot-shooting Notre Dame. Clemson looked as if it had flushed that from its collective system Saturday when the Tigers led Boston College at home by 23 points in the latter stages of the first half.
But Clemson’s offense cooled off in the final 20 minutes while its defense again largely disappeared. The end result was a 70-68 setback that matched the largest blown lead in program history. Making matters worse was the fact it came against a Boston College team outside the top 150 in the NET rankings that had lost five straight games, leaving Clemson with a second Quadrant 3 loss on its postseason resume.
“I think we have to kind of turn the next page because we play so quickly, but you have to let it sting,” senior forward Naz Bohannon said. “We’re now losing two games in a row in a game where you were in control and we were up (23) at one point in this game.”
That has Clemson feeling like its collective back is against the wall heading to Syracuse (8-9), which is having a down year by the Orange’s standards but has still been difficult to beat at home. Syracuse is 6-3 at the Carrier Dome this season, though the Orange lost there their last time out against Florida State.
Not only would a win help Clemson get back on track, but it would be a Quad 2 victory if the Tigers can get it. The Tigers, who have dropped to 77th in the NET, are just 3-5 against the first two quadrants so far, leaving them in dire need of more quality victories.
After the way the last week has gone, the Tigers will take any win they can get.
“We have to be a bunch of hound dogs when we go to Syracuse and be thirsty for a win,” Bohannon said.
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