Brownell says Tigers let down late against Pack, but 'ready to compete' vs. Georgia Tech

Clemson's defense didn't lock NC State's offense down late.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Feb 20 13:54:43 GMT-04:00 2024

Clemson basketball needs positive momentum and a win, but Georgia Tech stands squarely in the way.

Going into last weekend, the Tigers (17-8, 7-7 ACC) had a three-game winning streak and were tied for fifth place with three other teams in the ACC standings. Clemson was looking to separate itself from the pack, but NC State guard DJ Horne's go-ahead floater with less than 10 seconds put a hold on those plans in the 78-77 Wolfpack win.

The Tigers held a 12-point lead in the second half and saw it slip away, and head coach Brad Brownell blamed his defense for the lapse.

“Yeah, I didn't think our offense was bad. I think we were up 10. We had one turnover, and I thought we missed three or four shots. Really, I think there were four shots maybe, and I think three of them I thought were really good shots,” Brownell said recently. “So it's just that part of it happens. And I talked to our team about that this morning. But defensively, we weren't good the last 10 minutes. It was a game of runs. I think they outplayed us early, 39-29, the first 18 minutes or so.

“And then we scored a couple of threes at the end of the half to make it four. And there was a middle 12 minutes where we outscored them by 22, like 32 to 10, and played great. And in the last 10 minutes, we got outscored by 13. And we just defensively didn't get the job done. I think it was 29-16 in the last 10 minutes. We gave up 29 points in the last 10 minutes. And DJ Horne made some big-time shots. Jayden Taylor made a huge three when they were down 10. I thought, if we get a stop there, the game might be different, but he made a big-time shot."

The Tigers once again failed in the late minutes of a game.

“Then we didn't execute enough down the stretch to put them away,” Brownell said. “Again, a lot of that credit goes to NC State. I thought they were highly motivated and played very well and kept competing and disappointed that our guys weren't better defensively to finish the game. We've struggled on that end at times this year, and I think that's what happened at the end.”

Next up for the Tigers is Georgia Tech. The Jackets are looking for their first back-to-back wins in Atlantic Coast Conference play and a regular-season sweep of Clemson. Georgia Tech hosts the Tigers in a 7 p.m. contest Wednesday at McCamish Pavilion. Tech defeated Clemson 93-90 in double overtime in Clemson in mid-January.

Tech (11-15, 4-11 ACC) ended a four-game skid Saturday with a 65-60 home-court victory over Syracuse. The Yellow Jackets have also defeated No. 7 Duke and No. 3 North Carolina in conference play this season.

“We just lost to NC State at home. We're 7-7 in the league. Obviously, we've got a lot to play for. We have a good team,” Brownell said. “We've had a couple of games get away from us, and If you're a competitive person, you got plenty of reasons to be ready to compete.”