No. 21 Clemson dropped its third straight ACC contest in an 87-72 loss to unranked Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday. The Tigers fell behind early and never established a real rhythm. Coach Brad Brownell didn’t mince words when he spoke of the Tigers’ lackluster play after the game.
On the defense not showing up in the first half:
“Yeah, I’m really extremely perplexed by why that happened. We certainly were a little wounded, but after the Carolina game, I thought we really emptied our tank. Like I told our guys, it’s hard in sports when you put so much into something. We were so pumped up, so excited, trying to bounce back from the Miami loss, and then if you don’t win the (next) game, it takes even more out of you. Not just the physical but the emotional drain.
“We tried to do everything we could to get emotionally ready to go back and compete. I thought we were there. I thought we had a really good shoot-around (Wednesday). I thought we had a pretty good practice (Tuesday). But obviously they [Virginia Tech] were a little bit wounded, too. They came in off a Florida State loss. For whatever reason, we were a half-step behind. We missed a couple of switches. I’m fighting this team some defensively. We rectified some things at halftime. I thought Dillon (Hunter) really helped our team. Chase (Hunter) couldn’t guard the ball tonight. I don’t know what it was. Dillon guarded the ball and slowed (Sean) Pedulla down at the end of the half and really got our defense back.
“Offensively, we missed a lot of shots. I think PJ (Hall) has got to fight harder for better position and deeper position. He’s got to play like an All-American. We’ve got to get a little more out of him that way. Chase has got to make some open shots. Joe (Girard) has to relax a little bit. We had turnovers. We got the ball in the paint four times and guys refused the bounce pass on a drop off so we turn it over.
“But just like I told the guys in our locker room: you were 10-1 in the non-conference so you gave yourselves some breathing room to stumble. We’ve got 16 games to go. We’ve had a hard stretch here. This is another quick turnaround with Boston College, who’s playing very well and playing really hard. It’s going to be a great test for us. We’ve got alumni coming back. We just need to figure out a way to get a win and get our mojo back a little bit. Can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to play better. We have to play better basketball on both ends. We’re not thinking (about) what we want to get done and executing it. We’re making way, way too many mistakes.”
On Ian Schieffelin being a positive and having another good performance:
“Yeah, obviously he’s battling and that’s what I talked to PJ about. PJ… five two-point field goals is not enough. Ian’s got nine. Like… we’re running an offense where we’re throwing you the ball more and we’re also running an offense where both post players post, and he’s finding ways to get more. We have to get you [PJ Hall] more. You have to earn more. You have to fight for more. We’ve got to work our way through it. We’ve got to roll up our sleeves and fight our way through some stuff.
“I’m a little bit more angry tonight with my team than I’ve been. I was upset with them at Miami at halftime. I was proud of them for their fight (against North Carolina). You’re going to miss shots some nights. But today, as bad as we played for a while, offensively we did some good things in the first half and we still gave ourselves a chance. We had it at four and really had a little momentum, but we just don’t make enough smart, tough plays. We kind of hope our way into some stuff. We’ve got to be a little bit more disciplined, and all of our players have to make sure that we’re following through on some things.”
On cutting the lead to four points five times in the second half:
“Yeah, the game was winnable. Give Virginia Tech credit. Thirteen out of 24 (from 3-point range), guys are making shots. Pedulla is throwing them in from 25 feet, but the problem is when you get guys good rhythm early, it’s really hard for you to get them back under control. (Virginia Tech) did a really nice job today. They had good pace to their stuff. They moved it and we made a couple of mistakes. Obviously, Tyler Nickel and Sean Pedulla were the difference.”
Clemson returns to the floor Saturday when they host Boston College (10-5 overall, 1-3 conference) at Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. EST. The game is scheduled to be televised on ACC Network.