Brad Brownell updates latest on Tigers following Duke win, with UNC matchup ahead

Chauncey Wiggins didn't start in the last game and played limited minutes due to sickness.

Grayson Mann · Staff Writer · Monday, February 10 2025

Treat it like the tournament.

After a monumental win over Duke on Saturday night, the celebration inside Littlejohn had to shift to high focus quickly.

North Carolina comes to town Monday night, featuring a rapid turnaround for Brad Brownell’s group after such an emotional Saturday.

Brownell took to his ACC coach's call to break down the focus, what the Tar Heels bring, and more.

*On the difference maker against Duke*

The first question fielded to Brownell was his thoughts on what led Clemson to victory over one of the best teams in the nation. He doesn’t believe one item won them the game, but he pointed to a career night from Viktor Lakhin, as well as a sharp focus coming out of halftime as to what propelled the upset.

“I don't think it's just one thing,” Brownell said. “There's so many things that they do well. You can't just do one thing, and that will be the fix. In the second half, we really took care of the ball and obviously, we shot the ball at a very high level. Viktor Lakhin played terrific, so I think those are factors because Duke's going to score. You have to be able to find ways to score. They're such a good defense. Jon’s done a really good job with them, so I think that was really helpful for us, and rebounding the ball was vital also.”

*On the quick turnaround to face North Carolina

One major factor for this group to stack wins against Duke and North Carolina will be the focus on moving past such a victory against the Blue Devils.

Following Saturday’s win, Brownell compared it to the NCAA Tournament schedule, with a big win being erased quickly for another game in 48 hours.

He knows it is just a matter of time until we find out how this group has fared since Saturday night.

“We will find out,” Brownell said. “I hope we've done a good job. We've done everything we could. We brought them in yesterday morning, watched some film, walked through some things and started talking about the North Carolina introduction, and then brought them back for a short practice yesterday afternoon. We've already had a morning shoot around this morning, so we've met with our guys three times, and they'll meet again for pregame. So we've done just about everything we can do and put our guys in a good place mentally and physically to be ready to compete.”

That focus comes emphasized with a team like North Carolina, with Brownell believing that the Tar Heels’ record does not indicate how great they are.

“North Carolina is, they're better than their record,” Brownell said. “I think one of the things that, this is really hard, but they played maybe the hardest schedule in the country. I mean, it's unbelievable when you look at who they played in the non-conference. Between Michigan State and Florida and Alabama and Kansas, you'll lose some of those games. They beat UCLA, so they could have 17 wins if they wanted to based on scheduling. And they've lost a couple of close ones, but they're very talented. Hubert does a good job with 'em. They run some unique things, and we know we'll have to be really ready to play today.”

*On Jaeden Zackery’s defensive swagger*

Zackery’s addition to this lineup continues to hold positive returns. Against Duke, he provided his usual efforts on offense, but the little things that make the difference, as well as his defensive prowess on the floor, hold things together.

With an offense like Duke’s that is predicated on movement and switching, Zackery’s toughness turned out to be the perfect answer for that problem.

Brownell took time on his coach's call to praise Zackery’s play, adding the Boston College transfer plays with some swagger.

“He's a super competitor,” Brownell said. “He just plays really hard, whether it's guarding the ball, whether it's blocking somebody out, big guy out, trying to front the post. He's just a super competitive kid, and yeah, he's done an unbelievable job for us, especially on the defensive end. He brings an aggressiveness that you love, and a little bit of a defensive swagger that I think has been very helpful to our team this year.”

*On recent rebounding inconsistencies*

Brownell was asked on Monday about his team’s recent trials with rebounding, one such metric that cost them in triple overtime against Georgia Tech.

That script was flipped against Duke, mainly with the ability to play bigger with Lakhin into the lineup, taking an 11-8 advantage on the offensive glass over the Blue Devils.

Brownell addressed these woes, particularly against Georgia Tech, and the corrections they attempted to make.

“We do the rebounding drills,” Brownell said. “You point it out, you talk to your guys, you show 'em on film. I mean, at the end of the day, your guy's got to get the job done. Some games are more challenging. In some games, you're in a little bit more difficult situations. Maybe you're in rotation. Sometimes, there are just long rebounds, like it is crazy. But at the end of the Georgia Tech game, there are probably two or three rebounds that are bounces. They weren't great situations. A couple of times, our guys boxed out, and the ball just carried them the wrong way, and so that's going to happen some, too. But through the course of a long, 40-minute game, your guys have to consistently give tremendous effort on that and understand that's how you finish possession. So you just continue to talk about it, coach it, and do your best with it.”