Clemson vs FSU: Post-game press conference and notes |
Brad Brownell post-game press conference (WMA Format)
Overall Thoughts:
“That was a terrific performance by our guys. I thought our energy level was as good as it’s been all year for forty minutes. We knew we were going to have to play outstanding defense because Florida State is very difficult to score against. It helped us that we got off to a good start.
I think we showed maturity and growth as a team being able to weather a couple of offensive lulls of our own to stick to it for forty minutes of outstanding defense.”
On the defensive performance:
“We’ve played well defensively against some other teams, but not through the whole forty minutes like this. It helped a little bit that Singleton got in some foul trouble early. We did a lot of really good things defensively. We were active, we contested shots, and we did a reasonable job keeping them off the glass. It was a very strong defensive performance.”
On the team’s blistering start:
“It really helped that we got off to a great start. We were making some shots and things were looking good. Devin (Booker) got open and hit a couple of threes, and then we got a transition basket that got the crowd going. Then reality set in and we didn’t make as many.”
On Jerai Grant’s impact:
“We’ve seen some things from Jerai this year that you maybe didn’t see in the past, especially the high-level play at the end of the game when he swept it from the high post and finished with a dunk. It’s exciting as a coach to watch players do something new after you work with them on it in practice.”
FSU's Leonard Hamilton (WMA Format)
Overall Thoughts:
“Clemson immediately got us on our heels. They came out red hot in the first half and we could never really recover. They just applied the defensive pressure in the beginning and that really bothered us. When we couldn’t handle the pressure, we started shooting the ball a lot quicker than we normally do. We didn’t respond to their really consistent defensive effort; and that’s to their credit. Coach (Brad) Brownell has done a really good job preparing this team for this game and we came in and didn’t respond to the adversity they created for us in the first half.
“Most of the time, we find ways to bounce back; we make a couple of shots and get our confidence up. We did that at the end of the first half, but we turned the ball over in two of the first possessions of the second half and they scored on both possessions. We never seemed to be able to get back to that level of confidence we need to play well.
“You have to give their effort and preparation a lot of credit. You never like to take losses, but there are moral victories and I guess there are also moral losses. Hopefully, we’ll learn from this. I really believe that life on the road in the ACC this year will be a lot of these types of games. You have a lot of teams that feel like they have a chance in terms of talent and all the teams are very well coached. This loss might serve to teach us a very valuable lesson.
“Obviously, we’re a much better basketball team than we showed today. Our lack of sound play today has to be attributed to Clemson’s constant defensive pressure. They were so much more physical than us on the inside and that bothered us.”
On Chris Singleton in foul trouble:
“That wasn’t why we were losing. We’re talented enough that we should be able to absorb someone being in foul trouble. If he had been out there executing the way he had been executing, it wouldn’t have made much difference. We’re talented enough where if we’re executing the way we’ve been doing all year, we should have been ok.”
On ACC home court advantage:
“I don’t think going on the road in the ACC is any more of a challenge than it has been in the past couple of years. The way people have handed you your hat and showed you the door when you play on the road has been pretty consistent this year. Hopefully we can hand out some of those gifts when people come to visit us in the next couple of weeks.”
Audio Tanner Smith (WMA Format)
Audio: Demontez Stitt (WMA Format)
Audio: Jerai Grant(WMA Format)
Clemson vs. Florida State Postgame Notes
•Clemson held Florida State to 44 points, the fewest points the Seminoles have scored against the Tigers in history (57 games). The previous low was 45 in a 78-45 Clemson win in 1998-99 in a game at Littlejohn Coliseum.
•Clemson held Florida State to 44 points and NC State to 50 in consecutive ACC games this week. It was the fewest points (94) Clemson has allowed in consecutive ACC games since the 1958-59 season. That year, Clemson beat Maryland at home on Jan. 10 by a 55-46 score, then lost on the road at Duke, 41-45 for 91 total points allowed in consecutive ACC games.
•This week was the first time since the 1981-82 season that Clemson allowed 50 points or less in consecutive ACC games. That year Clemson beat Georgia Tech 55-49 in Atlanta on Jan. 20, then lost at home to Duke, 50-44.
•The 44 points scored this afternoon by Florida State were the fewest by an ACC opponent vs. the Tigers since Jan. 27, 2000 when Clemson beat a 21st ranked NC State team, 59-42,
•Clemson defeated a 22nd ranked Florida State team 62-44 this afternoon. It was the first ranked opponent Clemson has faced this year and Clemson’s first win over a top 25 team since Jan. 13, 2010 when the Tigers defeated North Carolina by 19 points, 83-64.
•Clemson won the rebound margin today, 34-32. Florida State entered the game 16th in the nation and first in the ACC in rebound margin at +7.0 per game.
•Over the last seven games, Clemson guard Demontez Stitt has scored 27 points in the first halves and 82 points in the second halves combined. He had two in the first half and 10 in the second half today.
•Stitt had four steals today and moved into 10th place on Clemson’s all-time steal list. He now has 147 and moved ahead of former teammate Trevor Booker, who had 144 between 2006-10.
•One of the reasons for Clemson’s winning record in ACC play so far has been free throw shooting. The Tigers have made 99-128 free throws in ACC play so far, .773.
•Clemson shot 38.8 percent from three-point range against the Seminoles today. Florida State entered the game 11th in the nation in three-point defense, allowing just .289 three-point shooting.
•Clemson went the last 12:31 without a field goal in the first half and missed 14 straight shots from the field. But, the Tigers still had a nine-point lead at intermission.
•Devin Booker scored a three-point goal for Clemson’s first field goal of the game on its first possession. It was the third time this year he has done that.
•Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell became the first Clemson head coach to have a winning record after his first seven ACC games. The Tigers are 4-3.
•Clemson finishes the month of January with a 5-2 record, just the second winning January since the 1996-97 season and just the third in the last 21 years.
•Florida State guard Deividas Dulkys scored a team best 17 points for the Seminoles in their win over Clemson on Dec. 12, 2010. The Tigers held him to no points this afternoon.
•Andre Young has now scored at least one three point goal in 21 straight games this year and 22 straight over two years, the longest active streak in the ACC. The Clemson record is 45 by Cliff Hammonds.
•Clemson has now won 12 of its last 13 home ACC games.
•Clemson has now won nine of the last 10 home games against Florida State.
•Clemson started the week 93rd in the RPI. After Saturday’s win over Florida State, Clemson’s real time RPI was 66th.
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