Hunter Tyson – Page 5 – Syndication Server

‘Can’t thank them enough’: Brownell, Tigers appreciative of support amid rough patch

Last week didn’t play out how Clemson’s men’s basketball team would’ve hoped, but the atmosphere inside Littlejohn Coliseum for the Tigers’ three-game homestand wasn’t lost on Brad Brownell. “Proud of our fans and our students,” Clemson’s 12th-year …

“Proud of our fans and our students,” Clemson’s 12th-year coach said. “Incredibly supportive. I hope people see that we’re trying and we’re fighting and our kids are giving it what we’ve got right now.”

Despite drawing three of the biggest home crowds of the season, Clemson went winless in its own building over the last five days. The shutout was capped Saturday night with a loss to Notre Dame, which dropped the Tigers (12-13, 4-10 ACC) below .500 for the first time this season.

Clemson has lost four straight games and eight of 10 heading into Tuesday’s road tilt against Florida State (13-11, 6-8). There won’t be any NCAA Tournament for the Tigers this season like there was in 2018 and 2021, and Clemson, in danger of its first losing season since 2012-13, may get shut out of the postseason all together unless it can get things turned around in the last six games of the regular season.

Losing senior forward Hunter Tyson (broken clavicle) hasn’t helped the Tigers’ situation. Clemson also played Saturday without another veteran starter, guard David Collins, who served a one-game suspension for his flagrant foul against Duke earlier in the week.

“We’re not playing great all the time, and we’re a little overmanned at times,” Brownell said. “We’ve got to do some things in recruiting to make sure that doesn’t happen. Last year’s team was deep. We had 11 guys, and we were a little bit bigger. Certainly more experience, and we could absorb a few things. This year’s team is not quite there.”

Yet fans have still come out to provide their support. Clemson’s games against North Carolina, Duke and Notre Dame marked three of the four highest-attended games at Littlejohn this season. Thursday’s game against Duke turned into a sellout of the 9,000-seat arena, but even without the bump of the Blue Devils’ traveling party, attendance was still strong this past week.

Clemson announced an attendance of 7,470 fans for the UNC game while 7,524 fans turned out to watch Saturday’s game in person. Only games against Duke and nearby Wofford (8,118) have drawn more fans at Littlejohn this season.

Amid a season that’s gone awry, Brownell said his program is thankful for the support.

“We’re getting our lip bloodied some,” Brownell said. “That makes you better. You need that. But for our fan base to stick with us, it’s appreciated by our players and appreciated by our coaches. I can’t thank them enough for sticking with us and hanging in there. I hope they see kids that are really competing and trying because I do think my guys are doing that.”

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‘He feels awful’: Krzyzewski, Brownell discuss Collins’ hard foul

Mike Krzyzewski’s final visit to Littlejohn Coliseum as Duke’s basketball coach ended up good for the Blue Devils and bad for Clemson. Duke’s 18-point victory also included an ugly sequence. With the Blue Devils leading 27-20 with a little more than …

Mike Krzyzewski’s final visit to Littlejohn Coliseum as Duke’s basketball coach ended up good for the Blue Devils and bad for Clemson. Duke’s 18-point victory also included an ugly sequence.

With the Blue Devils leading 27-20 with a little more than 3 minutes left in the first half Thursday, Wendell Moore Jr. stripped David Collins and took off the other way for a dunk. Collins, in hot pursuit, undercut Moore mid-flight, causing Duke’s junior guard to crash to the hardwood beneath him without being able to brace his fall.

The hard foul combined with Moore’s subsequent hard landing drew an audible gasp from many of the fans watching inside Littlejohn Coliseum, and Moore stayed down for a few seconds. Krzyzewski sprang out of his chair on the Blue Devils’ bench as the foul drew the ire of Duke’s coaching staff. Moore eventually got up under his own power and walked it off, but after video review, Collins was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game.

Brownell said “the last thing we’re trying to do is hurt anybody,” adding it was a moment in which his frustrated senior guard let his emotion get the better of him.

“He’s a very competitive player,” Brownell said. “And I think he thought he got fouled on the play down there (on offense), so he’s fighting like crazy to get back in the play. And then he makes the wrong play. “

Collins explained the play from his vantage point and issued a public apology in a post to his Instagram account immediately following the game, but he expressed regret to Krzyzewski well before that. Before Collins left the court, Brownell walked him over to Duke’s bench so he could apologize to Krzyzewski, who called it “one of the most dangerous plays I’ve ever seen” because of Moore’s body being parallel to the ground at one point during his fall.

But Duke’s Hall of Fame coach had no hard feelings afterward. He gave Collins a hug before Collins headed to the locker room early.

“(Brownell) is good people, and his kids are good people,” Krzyzewski said. “We didn’t want that to escalate, so the fact he brought him and we did some interaction, I thought that was really good.

“You put it behind. And Brad apologized after it, and I said, ‘Please, let’s just move on.’”

Brownell said he took Collins over to Krzyzewski so he could apologize to him in person. As for the play itself, Brownell opined he didn’t think Collins had any bad intentions, particularly considering Collins had been on the receiving end of a similar foul two days earlier in Clemson’s loss to North Carolina.

“Obviously we take a lot of pride in how we do things in our program from how we play to who we are on and off the court, and so it was certainly a situation,” Brownell said. “Ironically, the same play happened to David against North Carolina. He got fouled hard, and there was a flagrant 1. He just had that happen to him, and I thought he got hurt. So he was very emotional with it.”

Brownell said he also made Collins apologize to his teammates after Clemson had to play the last 23 minutes and change without their leading rebounder and third-leading scorer. Already playing without injured forward Hunter Tyson, the Tigers allowed 44 points in the second half with Collins unavailable.

“He feels awful,” Brownell said. “Not only does he make a bad play that puts somebody in danger, but he also isn’t there for our team. If you’re his teammate, we don’t have him for the last 26 minutes. And we need him. We need him to guard (Duke point guard) Trevor Keels, (AJ) Griffin and their bid-bodied guys. We’re out there with our little guards with guys like that, and it’s a problem.

“It’s a teaching moment. It happens.”

A flagrant 2 foul doesn’t come with an automatic suspension, so Collins would be able to return to action Saturday when Clemson hosts Notre Dame unless Brownell decides to hand down his own suspension. As for Moore, he bounced back to play 19 minutes in the second half, though all eight of his points came in the first.

Krzyzewski said Moore is “good” physically and is expected to suit up for the Blue Devils when they play Boston College on the road Saturday.

“I hope he’s good,” Krzyzewski said. “We’ll see tomorrow after the plane ride and all of that. It’s best to move on.”

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Brownell updates Tyson’s injury status

Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell on Monday updated the status of senior forward Hunter Tyson, who recently sustained a broken clavicle. Brownell said Tyson had surgery Friday, which included inserting a plate to stabilize the collarbone. …

Clemson men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell on Monday updated the status of senior forward Hunter Tyson, who recently sustained a broken clavicle.

Brownell said Tyson had surgery Friday, which included inserting a plate to stabilize the collarbone.

“(The operation) went well,” Brownell said. “They’ve gotten a hold of it. Hanging in there.”

Confirming the injury last week, Clemson revealed Tyson would be out indefinitely with no timetable set for a possible return. Brownell on Monday suggested Tyson, who sustained the injury against Florida State on Wednesday, will miss at least a month and didn’t voice much confidence that he’ll play again this season.

“Maybe there’s an outside chance by the ACC Tournament or something he could play. I’m not optimistic,” Brownell said. “I don’t know how you sit out a month and then, all of a sudden, you’re going to be ready to go.”

Clemson dropped its first game without Tyson on Saturday at Georgia Tech. This week, the Tigers will play three home games in five days starting Tuesday against North Carolina without their fourth-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder. Tyson is also shooting 38.7% from 3-point range.

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What Tyson’s extended absence means for Clemson hoops

Just when it seemed like Clemson’s men’s basketball team was building some momentum heading into the back half of its ACC slate, the Tigers were dealt a major blow with news that Hunter Tyson will be sidelined for an extended period of time. Clemson …

Clemson notched its fourth Quadrant 2 victory of the season Wednesday with a home win over Florida State, but it came at a price. Tyson played just nine minutes before leaving the game during the latter stages of the first half after taking a blow to the upper body. He never returned, and an X-ray confirmed the Tigers’ senior forward sustained a broken clavicle.

In a statement released Thursday, Clemson said there’s not yet a timetable for Tyson’s return. So for the foreseeable future, the Tigers will be without not only their fourth-leading scorer (10.4 points) and third-leading rebounder (5.6) but also a veteran leader in the locker room.

“One of our smartest guys because he’s been in the program for four years,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said of Tyson. “He’s your voice. So you need some of your older guys to provide voice.”

Clemson (12-9, 4-6 ACC) has won two of its last three games by a combined 33 points. The Tigers came up three points short of upsetting No. 9 Duke on the road last week. Otherwise, they would be carrying a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s game at Georgia Tech (8-12, 2-8).

After that, Clemson will return to Littlejohn Coliseum for a key three-game homestand next week against North Carolina, Duke and Notre Dame, all of which sit in the top 70 of the NET rankings.

If the Tigers want to keep their momentum going in Tyson’s absence, they’re going to need others to help pick up the slack at his power forward spot, though Tyson was essentially a big guard on the floor with his ability to also step away from the basket on the offensive end. It sounds like Clemson may try to do that by committee.

“You’re going to need Naz (Bohannon) and Ian Schieffelin,” Brownell said. “My freshmen big guys are going to play more and are going to have to produce.”

Bohannon, the likeliest candidate to move into the starting lineup, performed well when pressed into his most extended action of the season Wednesday. The graduate transfer from Youngstown State stepped in for Tyson and played a season-high 30 minutes, finishing with 11 points on 5 of 7 shooting. Generously listed on Clemson’s roster at 6-foot-6, Bohannon is a couple of inches shorter than Tyson, but he also pulled down five boards in Wednesday’s win.

Those numbers far surpassed Bohannon’s season averages of 4.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18.9 minutes, but Wednesday’s performance was more on par with what Bohannon did at his previous stop. A 1,200-point scorer in four seasons at Youngstown State, Bohannon also led the Penguins in rebounding (8.2) a season ago.

“Rebounding is a want-to skill,” Bohannon said. “At that point, at 6-5 or whatever it is I am, I feel like my heart makes me bigger than a lot of guys out there.”

Schieffelin, a freshman, had played in 17 of Clemson’s first 20 games but had seen his minutes decrease of late. He didn’t play against Duke and logged just five minutes in the Tigers’ rout of Pittsburgh the game before.

But with Tyson out, the 6-7, 225-pounder played 10 minutes against FSU. It was just his third time playing double-digit minutes in Clemson’s previous 14 games, but Scheiffelin made the most of it, pulling down five boards to help the Tigers finish plus-13 on the glass.

Fellow big Ben Middlebrooks got just three minutes against the Seminoles, which is right at his season average (3.6). But his playing time figures to increase, too. The 6-10 freshman has spent most of his first season at Clemson as PJ Hall’s primary backup at center, but there’s a chance Brownell could play Hall and Middlebrooks together in Tyson’s absence depending on matchups and the team’s foul situation on any given night.

The facet of Tyson’s game that may be the most difficult for Clemson to replace is perimeter shooting. Tyson has helped the Tigers stretch defenses by shooting 38% from 3-point range on 64 attempts from beyond the arc. Schieffelin is just 3 of 6 from deep this season while the 3-ball is an even smaller part of the repertoire for Bohannon or Middlebrooks, who’ve combined to shoot one 3 all season.

The injury is the latest bout of tough luck for Tyson, who had played through two sprained ankles for most of the season before Wednesday. As a true senior, Tyson still has a COVID year he could use to return to the team next season if that’s something he wants to do even if he’s able to return to the court at some point this season.

For now, though, Brownell said the Tigers will need everyone to elevate their games in the absence of one of their better players.

“He’s basically healthy and ready to go, and then this happens,” Brownell said. “I feel awful for him, but the next man up’s got to go.”

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Bad news for Clemson hoops

What Clemson’s men’s basketball team initially feared Wednesday night became official less than 24 hours later. Senior forward Hunter Tyson is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone, the program announced Thursday. An X-ray confirmed the injury …

What Clemson’s men’s basketball team initially feared Wednesday night became official less than 24 hours later.

Senior forward Hunter Tyson is out indefinitely with a broken collarbone, the program announced Thursday. An X-ray confirmed the injury for Tyson, the Tigers’ fourth-leading scorer who’s started all 21 games this season.

Tyson sustained the injury with a little more than five minutes left in the first half of Clemson’s win over Florida State. He left the game and didn’t return. Senior forward Naz Bohannon played a season-high 30 minutes in Tyson’s absence and finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Freshman Ian Schieffelin also logged 10 minutes off the bench at that position.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell said afterward he didn’t know the extent of Tyson’s injury but feared it was a broken clavicle.

The confirmation of Tyson’s injury means Clemson will not only be without a starter for an an extended period of time but also a double-figure scorer. Tyson is averaging 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds this season.

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Clemson knocks off Florida State

The last time Clemson’s men’s basketball team went on an extended break, the Tigers lost their first game back and went on to lose three of four after that. How this return to play pans out over the next couple of weeks remains to be seen, but it’s …

The last time Clemson’s men’s basketball team went on an extended break, the Tigers lost their first game back and went on to lose three of four after that.

How this return to play pans out over the next couple of weeks remains to be seen, but it’s already off to a better start.

Clemson got 15 points from PJ Hall and 12 apiece from Nick Honor and Chase Hunter, and the Tigers held off Florida State for a 75-69 win Wednesday at Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson, playing for the first time since its narrow loss at Duke eight days earlier, also got 11 points from Naz Bohannon to notch its fourth Quadrant 2 victory.

It’s the second time since late December that Clemson (12-9, 4-6 ACC) has returned from a pause lasting more than a week. The first time, which happened after the Tigers’ Dec. 29 home game against Duke was postponed (COVID-19 protocols), Clemson suffered a 17-point loss in a rematch against a Virginia team it hadn’t beaten on the road 13 days earlier.

Even without senior forward Hunter Tyson, who left late in the first half with an upper body injury and didn’t return, Clemson didn’t show as much rust this time around, shooting 52% from the field to lead FSU wire to wire. That included a handful of double-digit cushions, though the Tigers didn’t make it easy on themselves.

Clemson led 57-46 with 14:27, but FSU’s size and length was a problem at times for the Tigers, who committed 14 turnovers leading to 14 points that helped the Seminoles (14-8, 6-5) chip away. Clemson saw its lead dwindle to 69-67 with 2:25 left after a free throw from Caleb Mills, who led FSU with 16 points.

But FSU didn’t get any closer thanks in large part to Hall, who knocked down four consecutive free throws and blocked a shot in the final 2 minutes. The Tigers also coaxed a turnover with a five-second call on one of FSU’s final possessions, holding the Seminoles without a bucket for the final 3:14.

RayQuan Evans added 11 points for the Seminoles, who played without their third-third leading scorer, Malik Osborne (injury).

Clemson led 45-36 at the half after getting off to a hot shooting start. The Tigers sank 61% of its shots from the field, including six straight to create some separation at the end of the half.

Honor’s jumper just before the buzzer capped Clemson’s late first-half surge after FSU tied the game at 30 with 4:15 left before the break. Honor had 10 first-half points while Bohannon added nine off the bench to help the Tigers keep their distance despite Hall playing just eight minutes in the first half after picking up two early fouls.

Part of the reason FSU was able to keep the deficit at single digits in the opening 20 minutes was its defense. The Seminoles forced nine of their x turnovers in the first half, scoring 10 points off of those.

But Clemson went the final 4:17 without coughing up a possession and ended the half on a 15-6 spurt.

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The good and bad of Clemson hoops’ extended break

Much to the chagrin of head coach Brad Brownell, Clemson’s men’s basketball will have to wait a little longer than usual to play its next game. It’s routine for college basketball teams to play a couple of games a week – usually one midweek and …

Much to the chagrin of head coach Brad Brownell, Clemson’s men’s basketball will have to wait a little longer than usual to play its next game.

It’s routine for college basketball teams to play a couple of games a week – usually one midweek and another on the weekend – once conference play starts. Outside of a coronavirus-related postponement of its home game against Duke on Dec. 29, it’s been the norm for Clemson over the last month.

But that will be disrupted this weekend with an open date on the schedule. Clemson pushed the ninth-ranked Blue Devils to the brink in a narrow loss Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, but the Tigers won’t play again until Wednesday when they welcome Florida State to Littlejohn Coliseum.

It’s unfortunate timing for Clemson (11-9, 3-6 ACC), which has responded to what was its longest losing streak of the season with two of its better performances. Before putting together a well-rounded effort against Duke – one in which Clemson sank 11 3-pointers, finished plus-8 on the glass and forced the Blue Devils into 12 turnovers – the Tigers notched their largest margin of victory in an ACC game so far with their weekend pummeling of a Pittsburgh team that turned around and beat Syracuse its last time out.

“This time of year, we just don’t want to lose our momentum,” Brownell said. “It’s always hard.”

Brownell cited his team’s longest layoff of the season as a prime example. Because of the Duke postponement, Clemson went 12 days between games against Virginia. The Tigers’ 17-point win in Charlottesville on Dec. 22 ran their longest winning streak of the season to four games. When they faced the Cavaliers again in Littlejohn on Jan. 4, Virginia handed Clemson a 10-point loss to start a stretch in which the Tigers lost four out of five games, including three straight before the win over Pitt last week.

“We came back from Christmas, we’d just won at Virginia, we were on a roll, and we felt really good,” Brownell said. “We were excited about the Dec. 29 game, and then we kind of got put on hold for a while. Now the last two games, Pittsburgh we won, and we played well (Tuesday). We’d rather be playing Saturday, but we’ve got some time.”

But not everything about the long layoff is a negative, Brownell said.

Clemson continues to deal with injuries in its frontcourt to forward Hunter Tyson (ankle sprain) and sophomore big PJ Hall (foot), though it’s been hard to tell given the way they have continued to perform. Tyson, with both ankles heavily taped, scored 13 points on 6 of 12 shooting and added eight rebounds against Duke while Hall paced Clemson with a 14-point, 10-board double-double.

Hall, who also had three assists Tuesday, has scored in double figures in all but one game this season and still leads the Tigers in scoring at 14.8 points per game. But Brownell said the extra down time gives both a chance to heal injuries they’ve been dealing with for the better part of the season.

“PJ and Hunter Tyson for us need rest,” Brownell said. “Both guys are playing through some physical ailments.”

As for Clemson’s next opponent, Florida State (13-6, 6-3) will host Virginia Tech on Saturday before making the trip to Clemson for Wednesday’s game, which is set for a 7 p.m. tip.

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Clemson pushes No. 9 Duke to the brink, falls late

DURHAM, N.C. – As hard as Clemson’s men’s basketball team fought to wake up from it, the Tigers’ nightmare at Cameron Indoor Stadium continues. Clemson pushed No. 9 Duke to the brink Tuesday but ultimately lost out on what would’ve been its most …

DURHAM, N.C. – As hard as Clemson’s men’s basketball team fought to wake up from it, the Tigers’ nightmare at Cameron Indoor Stadium continues.

Clemson pushed No. 9 Duke to the brink Tuesday but ultimately lost out on what would’ve been its most significant win of the season with a 71-69 setback to the Blue Devils. PJ Hall led the Tigers (11-9, 3-6 ACC) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Hunter Tyson scored 13 points, and Chase Hunter added 12 points in his second game in the starting lineup for the Tigers, who got almost everything they needed to notch their first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since the mid-1990s.

Clemson got off 19 more shots (71 to Duke’s 52), knocked down 11 of its 26 3-pointers and even neutralized Duke’s size advantage on the interior by outrebounding the Blue Devils by eight (39-31) and finishing plus-6 in paint points (28-22). But the Blue Devils shot 50% from deep and better than 48% overall to ultimately keep Clemson from notching that elusive win in Duke’s home building, a place the Tigers haven’t won since the 1994-95 season.

Star freshman Paolo Banchero had 14 of his 19 points in the second half for Duke, including the final couple of buckets after Clemson chipped away at a seven-point deficit with 9 minutes, 25 seconds left.

The teams traded buckets down the stretch until Joey Baker’s runner in the lane put Duke up 67-65 with 2:15 left. Banchero then gave the Blue Devils a two-possession lead with a baseline jumper. After Tyson got free for an outlet pass and a dunk to get Clemson back within a possession, Duke again got the ball back to its 6-10 freshman in isolation along the baseline.

Banchero again finished over a defender to push the Blue Devils’ lead to 71-67 with 38.9 seconds left. David Collins eventually scored the Tigers’ final basket on a putback with 1.7 ticks left, but it was too little, too late for Clemson, which shot 41% from the field and forced the Blue Devils into 12 turnovers, though only three of those came after halftime.

Clemson also shot just one free throw to Duke’s 13. The Blue Devils, who also got 13 points from Wendell Moore Jr. and 11 from Baker, made 11 of those freebies.

Hall shot 6 of 21 from the field with seven of those attempts coming from 3-point range. He made two of those, including one in the waning seconds of the first half to send the teams to the break knotted at 36.

It was a theme for the Tigers early. Clemson struggled to score near the basket against the Blue Devils’ size, but the Tigers shot 50% from deep (6 of 12) in the opening 20 minutes. Clemson also turned Duke over nine times in the opening half, converting those into 12 points.

The Tigers also benefited from two quick fouls picked up by Banchero, who played just nine of the first 20 minutes. A baseline dunk by Tyson followed by a 3 from Al-Amir Dawes gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half at 31-26. Duke answered with a quick 6-0 spurt capped by Wendell Moore’s steal and flush, forcing Brad Brownell to use a timeout to halt the Blue Devils’ momentum.

Hall had nine first-half points, including a putback slam that put Clemson back on top on its next offensive sequence. His tying 3 with 10 seconds left in the half helped the Tigers offset a 46% shooting clip for Duke in the opening 20 minutes, including the Blue Devils knocking down six of their first 10 3s.

This story will be updated.

Duke – with its potential No. 1 pick – provides biggest test yet for Clemson

In helping build one of the top five winningest programs in the history of men’s college basketball, Mike Krzykewski has had no shortage of talented teams at Duke in his four decades as the Blue Devils’ head coach. This one, though, has a distinct …

This one, though, has a distinct characteristic to it, Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.

“I think they’re big, they’re long and extremely physical,” Brownell said. “Aggressive. They’re very athletic.”

In other words, Clemson (11-8, 3-5 ACC) will face another tall task tonight at 7 when No. 9 Duke hosts the Tigers at Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first of two meetings between the teams this season. Quite literally, it may be the tallest the Tigers have gotten from the Blue Devils (15-3, 5-2) in recent memory.

And one of Duke’s prized freshmen may be the biggest matchup problem of them all.

One of the nation’s top recruits in the 2021 recruiting cycle, Paolo Banchero was immediately inserted into the Blue Devils’ starting five and hasn’t disappointed during what will almost certainly be his only season of college ball. The only question at this point seems to be whether or not Banchero will be the No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s NBA Draft.

His stiffest competition for that distinction will likely be fellow freshmen phenoms Chet Holmgren (Gonzaga) and Jabari Smith Jr. (Auburn), but Banchero is firmly in the mix given how he’s performed so far this season. Yahoo Sports draft analyst Krysten Peek has the Orlando Magic taking Banchero first overall in her latest mock draft.

At 6-foot-10 and 250 pounds, Banchero leads Duke and ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring (17.9 points per game), though that’s far from the only elite facet of his game. He’s also averaging 7.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists while being versatile enough at his size to play virtually any position on the floor.

Banchero often brings the ball up and serves as the Blue Devils’ de-facto point guard. He’s just as comfortable finding teammates for open shots as he is creating his own, averaging four assists per game in January. He finished three assists shy of a triple-double in the Blue Devils’ overtime loss at Florida State earlier this month.

But Banchero is far from the only big body Duke can throw at the opposition, which has Brownell just as concerned about how his team is going to score over the Blue Devils’ trees. Sophomore center Mark Williams is the tallest of them all at 7-1 and 245 pounds whilo Theo John, a Marquette transfer, gives Duke a 6-9, 242-pound big off the bench.

Duke has another 7-footer if needed in freshman Stanley Borden, though he’s only played in one game so far.

“I do think it makes it more challenging to plan to go inside against them in some ways,” Brownll said. “You’re not going to have as much success as you would against other teams in some ways, and then other times I think your kids make plays within the game, and then all of a sudden you’re in front of Mark Williams and you’re not used to shooting over a guy like that.

“Guys are going into the basket, you get bumped, you don’t make a shot, you fall down and now Duke’s on a 5 on 4 and you’re in trouble. So I just think they’re are a lot of things that happen within the course of the game where their size, physicality and shot blocking cause problems and, a lot of times, can lead to good offense.”

It makes for the stiffest test yet for Clemson as a whole but particularly on the interior, where forwards PJ Hall, Hunter Tyson and Naz Bohannon like to operate. Hall, at 6-10 and 242 pounds, is Clemson’s best bet to match up with Duke on the inside while Tyson goes 6-8 and 215 pounds.

Hall, the Tigers’ leading scorer (14.8 points per game), has reached double figures in all but one game this season. Tyson had six points and two rebounds in the Tigers’ rout of Pittsburgh over the weekend, though he’s still feeling the effects of a recent ankle injury and not operating at full strength. Meanwhile, Hall continues to deal with a foot injury that’s going to limit his practice time for the rest of the season, Brownell said.

“We’ve got to be careful with him, but I’m optimistic he’ll be fine tomorrow and ready to go,” Brownell said of Hall.

Duke leads the ACC in blocked shots and ranks second in field-goal percentage defense thanks in large part to its ability to protect the rim. That’s going to make Clemson’s ability to knock down perimeter shots all the more important if it has any realistic shot of pulling its first Quadrant 1 win of the season out of Cameron Indoor, a place the Tigers have won just four times ever.

But Brownell said he may try to better match Duke’s size with more of his own. Freshman center Ben Middlebrooks played nine minutes against Pittsburgh – the second-most he’s logged all season – something Brownell said could become more frequent for the 6-10, 232-pounder going forward.

“Just in terms of sheer size and physicality, we’re going to need that, especially (Tuesday) night against Mark Williams and Banchero. They’re big, strong, physical dudes, and we’re going to need some guys that can match that strength.”

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Injury update on one of Clemson’s starting five

One of Clemson’s starters has been dealing with an injury recently, though it doesn’t sound like it’s going to keep him off the basketball court. Hunter Tyson has been playing with a sprained ankle the last three games. The Tigers’ senior forward …

One of Clemson’s starters has been dealing with an injury recently, though it doesn’t sound like it’s going to keep him off the basketball court.

Hunter Tyson has been playing with a sprained ankle the last three games. The Tigers’ senior forward dealt with another ankle injury earlier in the season, Clemson coach Brad Brownell revealed recently, but twisted his ankle late last week before Clemson’s trip to North Carolina State.

The Tigers (10-7, 2-3 ACC) have played Notre Dame and Boston College since. Tyson has yet to miss a game, but Clemson’s third-leading scorer hasn’t been quite as effective as usual. Tyson had just four points on 1 of 5 shooting – seven fewer than his season average – and six rebounds in the Tigers’ 70-68 loss to Boston College on Saturday.

“Just didn’t have it,” Brownell said of Tyson.

Tyson scored six points in nearly 30 minutes in Clemson’s win at N.C. State two days after spraining his ankle but has seen his minutes decrease since. He logged 20 against Boston College and in the Tigers’ midweek loss at Notre Dame.

He scored 12 points on 4 of 8 shooting against the Fighting Irish, but Brownell said Tyson was hurting more against Boston College, which handed the Tigers their worst of the season from a rankings standpoint. The Eagles, ranked 198th in the NET rankings at the start of the weekend, erased a 23-point deficit late in the first half to snap their five-game losing streak.

Meanwhile, Clemson has lost three of its last four games, dropping the Tigers to No. 78 in the NET. Asked if he might sit Tyson for a game or two in an effort to give him some more time to get closer to full strength, Brownell said he doesn’t think that’s something Tyson would want to do.

“We’ll just see,” Brownell said. “I’d have to fight him to sit him. We didn’t practice him Thursday. He practiced a little bit on Friday and seemed fine. Obviously he was fine (Saturday) in the shootaround, so it’s not that he can’t play. He just doesn’t have the pop. We ran a great play at the beginning of the game and got (the ball) to him right on the block, and it got blocked. He couldn’t really elevate as well as we need him to finish the play.

“There are just some plays like that that are happening a little bit. That’s part of it.”

Clemson has three days in between games with its next one coming Wednesday at Syracuse (8-9, 2-4), a Quadrant 2 opportunity for the Tigers.

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