Brownell says emotional game at Duke was "taken from us" |
For the ACC schools that don’t call the state of North Carolina home, winning basketball games on Tobacco Road is a tough process, with many fans protesting that the home teams get all the calls. Clemson head coach
Brad Brownell believes that came into play Saturday afternoon.
A late foul call and two free throws proved to be the difference as No. 12 Duke topped Clemson at Cameron Indoor Stadium, 72-71. With a chance to go up by multiple possessions late, some inopportune Tiger turnovers led to Duke points, but Clemson maintained a two-point edge into the final minute. With 19.2 seconds to go, Duke called a timeout with the possession and down two still, where Kyle Filipowski scored and was fouled by Ian Schieffelin, who picked up his fifth and final foul. Filipowski connected on the free throw for Duke (15-4, 6-2 ACC) to take a 70-69 lead. Hall’s drive to the hoop on the next possession picked up the Filipowski foul then, his fifth and final of the game, with 7.4 seconds to go. Hall coolly hit the first after the extended break for a substitution, and he knocked down the next one to give the Tigers (13-6, 3-5) a 71-70 lead before a Clemson timeout. Duke’s ensuing drive by Tyrese Proctor saw some contact, an apparent walk but no-call and a foul call on Josh Beadle to send him to the line with one second left. Proctor then hit both free throws for the win. Clemson attempted to inbound the ball for a full-court pass, but Hall collided with a Duke defender and the game ended. Brownell said he felt like the Tigers were robbed. "I’ve been here in this same situation about four times, within a possession, and I haven’t won one yet,” Brownell said. “We got to one second. Had it taken from us. It’s hard to win here. I’m really disappointed with how it ended.” Clemson forward Jack Clark was called for a first-half technical foul that Brownell deemed “ridiculous.” After the final buzzer, Brownell and Athletic Director Graham Neff could be seen keeping senior guard Joseph Girard from going after the officials. “That’s the emotion affecting the officials and creating stuff that wasn’t even there,” Brownell said, then said he felt like the fouls weren’t called the same both ways. "I’d have to watch. I do think there were times our guys were getting hit and it didn’t seem the same." Brownell said he was proud of his team for the effort but would grapple on the messaging after this type of loss. “Like I said, this is It's hard to win here for a lot of reasons. It really is. Tonight was an example of that. That's all I'm going to say. That's really disappointing,” Brownell said. “Where do you go from here? What's the message to the guys? Proud of their effort, proud of the way we played. I thought we executed a lot of really good things. Duke did a nice job throughout most of the game, and they played hard. They played well. “They played well defensively. Both teams, I thought, guarded. It was hard to score for both teams. We just kept trying to hang in there. Told my guys, hang in there until the last 10 minutes, give ourselves a chance. Certainly, we had that and then some. If we keep playing this basketball, we're going to finish the season well. Again, proud of my team.” That was among the top five worst officiated games I have seen in 46 covering Clemson basketball. That is the first time I have ever made a post on Twitter about officiating. That should put it in perspective. Here's a closer look at some of those *questionable* foul calls on Ian Schieffelin during the final two minutes of @ClemsonMBB's 72-71 loss to Duke.
Brad Brownell added in post that he felt the game was taken from them. pic.twitter.com/cok94JkGTL
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