Clemson’s men’s basketball will have some extra time to prepare for its next game, which now looms as one of the Tigers’ most impactful of the season.
Ask the Tigers, though, and they say that’s not necessarily a good thing.
“That’s the hard part of all of this,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “We’re playing so good the last two weeks that we don’t want to take a break.”
Clemson (9-4, 1-1 ACC) is fresh off its fourth straight win, one that came in convincing fashion and helped the Tigers get a proverbial monkey off their back. Their 17-point win at Virginia on Wednesday was not only their best victory to this point – Clemson had not previously beaten any teams in the top 100 of the NET rankings – but it also snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Cavaliers dating back to 2008.
“When you do finally get one like (Wednesday), you’re really proud of your team because you know your team really had to execute and play well,” Brownell said. “Fortunately we were able to do that.”
Clemson has put together its current string of wins – its second-longest winning streak of the season – in a 12-day span. Now the Tigers will have to wait a week before they take the court again when No. 2 Duke visits Littlejohn Coliseum on Dec. 29. It’s Clemson’s next chance to start picking up some Quadrant 1 wins for its postseason resume, something the Tigers don’t yet have.
But the Tigers, who jumped to No. 53 in the NET following Wednesday’s win, have picked up their first two Quad 2 wins during their winning streak, which began with a neutral-court victory over Missouri Valley Conference contender Drake and includes a rivalry win over South Carolina. Wins over top-75 NET teams at home, top-100 teams on a neutral court and top-135 teams on the road count as Quad 2 wins. Home wins over top-30 teams, neutral-site wins over top-50 teams and road wins over top-75 teams count as Quad 1 victories.
The higher the quadrant, the better the win is in the eyes of the NCAA selection committee, which uses the NET, or NCAA Evaluation Tool, to analyze teams’ season-long performance when determining at-large selections and seeding for the NCAA Tournament.
Much to Clemson’s dismay, the Tigers will have to wait a little longer than usual to try to keep the quality wins coming, though Duke (11-1, 1-0) will also be coming off a week-long break following its win over Virginia Tech on Wednesday.
“We want to get back in (the gym), practice for two or three days and play somebody again just because we feel so good about where we are,” Brownell said. “Momentum is such a powerful thing I think in sports.”
In addition to the stingy defense Clemson has grown accustomed to under Brownell, the Tigers bounded back from a poor shooting performance against South Carolina to pull away for its latest win. The Tigers made 8 of 22 3-pointers against Virginia and continued to get significant contributions from Hunter Tyson, PJ Hall and South Florida transfer David Collins, who had 11-point, 11-rebound double-double for his sixth game in double figures.
Tyson had 17 points on 6 of 10 shooting to lead the Tigers in scoring for the second straight game. The senior forward is averaging 16 points over the last three games. Meanwhile, Hall tallied 11 points and seven boards as Clemson finished plus-9 in rebounding margin (35-26) and limited the Cavaliers to just 12 points in the paint.
“I think we have a lot of confidence and momentum, but the key for us is really not worrying about our opponent,” Tyson said. “What’s important is the guys who wear Clemson. Just trusting our coaches, trusting the game plan and going out every night and executing that game plan to the best of our ability.
“We’ve done a good job of staying together, so I think as long as we continue to do that, we’ll continue to see success.”
Brownell said one positive to the extended break is a chance for Hall to get some additional rest. Clemson’s sophomore big played more than 32 minutes Wednesday despite dealing with a sore foot that limited his practice time ahead of the last two games, Brownell said.
The Tigers will break for the Christmas holiday before reconvening as a team Saturday.
“Beyond that, I think most of us would rather play,” Brownell said. “But it definitely feels much better going into Christmas and the break with a couple of big wins.”
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