It's Ugly, But It's A Win For Tigers Over FSU |
CLEMSON - You could look up the word "ugly" in a thesaurus and still not come up with enough different words to describe the carnage that was Clemson's 61-55 victory Wednesday night over visiting Florida State. But just the mere fact that Oliver Purnell could use the word "win" in his postgame press conference again was the most pressing thing. "It was important that we get off to a good start to our league," Purnell said. "This is where we play. This is what we signed up for. To get off to a good start in the ACC is very important." The Tigers (12-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won for the first time since Dec. 21, a 66-59 victory over Akron in the championship game of the San Juan Shootout. Since then Clemson had lost sophomore James Mays to academic ineligibility, a road game at Georgia and an embarrassing setback Dec. 30 to Elon. More importantly, the team seemed to have lost its confidence. And as putrid as Wednesday night's offensive performance was at times, just getting back on the winning side of the ledger can do nothing but positive things for Purnell's club. "This was huge from a confidence standpoint," Purnell said. "We lost James, lost a couple of games, one in which we were upset here at home. And we've had a lot of days to think about it. I'm sure the guys have been hearing about it from their family and friends. "So we needed to get this one out of the way." Still, it will be hard to ignore some of the numbers on this night. Clemson shot just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from the field in the second half, making just one field goal in the final 13-plus minutes of the game. The Tigers finished the evening just 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the field, including 9-of-31 from the 3-point line (29 percent). But one area where Purnell's team was much better this night was on the defensive end of the floor. Clemson held the Seminoles (9-2, 0-1) to 45 percent shooting for the game, just 34.6 percent 9-of-26) in the second half. FSU converted just 1-of-8 shots from behind the arc, and lost the rebound battle to the Tigers 42-28. The defense and rebounding, which came without the advent of any full court pressure by Clemson, allowed the Tigers to overcome their own offensive ineptitude and grab the much-needed victory. "They shot 56 percent in the first half, but some of that is because we turned the ball over at the top and gave them easy baskets," Purnell said. "Once we took care of that, our real-time defense was much better. The effort and intensity were there tonight, and it was defense that won the game for us." Clemson was led in scoring by Shawon Robinson, who finished with 12 points. Vernon Hamilton and Troy Mathis each scored 10. All of Mathis' points came in the first half. Al Thorton topped FSU with 12 points. Alexander Johnson added 11. Clemson is back in action at Noon Saturday, traveling to Virginia.
VISITORS: Florida State 9-2,0-1
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