Brownell, Tigers still have a chance to win ACC but need to play great basketball

Hunter Tyson has helped lead a surge from the Tigers lately.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Feb 27 13:32:06 GMT-04:00 2023

Brad Brownell isn’t worried about ACC Tournament seeding or his team’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament. He’s only worried about playing great basketball.

The Tigers have played winning basketball of late, rebounding from a loss at Louisville to blow out Syracuse and NC State to improve to 21-8 overall and 13-5 in ACC play. The 13-5 conference marks ties the Tigers with Virginia behind leader Pitt (14-4) and second-place Miami (14-5).

Clemson plays at No. 13 Virginia Tuesday night at 7 pm (ACCN) and a win can clinch at least a fourth-place spot in the ACC regular-season standings. The top four teams in the regular season receive a double-bye in next week’s ACC Tournament, skipping games on Tuesday and Wednesday and automatically advancing to the quarterfinals.

However, Brownell isn’t worried about any of that. Not seedings or NET rankings or whether the Tigers are on the NCAA bubble.

“No, not like that. I think you're speaking in terms of outcome and we're going to speak in terms of what we need to do to play great basketball,” Brownell told TigerNet Monday. “So, in terms of specifics, outcome results, stuff, no, we don't talk about that at all. We just what we need to do to play well. If we play really well, good things will happen and all those other things will take care of themselves.”

The Tigers shot just 4-of-24 from 3-point range in the loss to Louisville, but shot 14-of-36 from beyond the arc against Syracuse and were 10-of-19 from 3-point land in the 96-71 victory in Raleigh last Saturday.

Brownell said he can’t put explain the disparity in shooting percentages on a given night.

“I think sometimes we all, probably especially you guys, are a little over-analytical. Basketball's a hard game. Guys are trying to make shots,” he said. “Some nights you make tough shots, too. We made some tough shots against NC State. Sometimes you have open shots, you don't make them. Certainly, confidence can be a factor. It's not any factor with Hunter Tyson. He thinks he's making every shot. So no, it's a long season. These kids shoot a lot of balls.

“There's going to be some nights when you don't shoot it quite as well, and it just has to do with the fact that you're just not making them. Every once in a while, certainly, the other thing is defenses do a little better job. That's part of it. But no, our team is fine. Obviously, we've gotten some good shots, and we've knocked them down early, so maybe that's helped. Because when you see them go in early, you're playing with some confidence. Obviously, in the Louisville game, we did not shoot the ball well at all, and that's frustrating but part of it.”

Not only does Clemson have a chance to secure a top-four spot in the league, but the Tigers also have a chance to win the league’s regular-season title.

“We still have a chance to win the league, I think. That hasn't happened at Clemson in a, I don't know, since I guess one other time, maybe 30 years,” Brownell said. “So I think most teams in the league, if you tell them you're in the last week of the season playing for a league championship, yeah you need a little bit of help, but you're still right there. Pretty exciting. So yeah, I'm excited. Our players are excited. We've got to play tremendous basketball against a very good team in Virginia. It's a big order, but we're looking forward to playing.”

SERIES HISTORY VS. VIRGINIA

• Clemson will face Virginia for the 134th time in program history. The Tigers trail the series 54-79. Clemson has split the last two meetings with Virginia, but won its last game at John Paul Jones Arena on Dec. 22, 2021.

• Virginia is given a 77.6% win projection by ESPN's BPI. Virginia is rated 38th overall by KenPom with the No. 75 offense and No. 27 defense, against Clemson's No. 69 ranking with a No. 72 offense and No. 68 defense by efficiency standards.

VIRGINIA

(LAST 7 GAMES)

at Clemson (0-3)

at Virginia (1-2)

at Neutral Site (0-1)

Year Rank Site W/L CU Opp

2021-22 H L 65 75

2021-22 A W 67 50

2020-21 H L 50 85

2019-20 A L 44 51

2018-19 H L 43 63

2017-18 N L 58 64