The Clemson Tigers got off to a great start in the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season, winning nine out of their first 10 games.
Included in that stretch was a statement victory over the Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC/ACC Challenge. Ranked No. 4 at the time, they went into Littlejohn Colesium and left with their first defeat of the campaign.
That helped catapult Clemson into the top 25, as they were actively working their way off the bubble and into locked-in, at-large bid territory. Another victory was had in their next contest against the reeling Miami Hurricanes to get off to a 1-0 start in ACC play.
Before their conference schedule would start permanently, the Tigers had two non-conference challenges remaining; hosting the Memphis Tigers and on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Both games ended in excruciating overtime defeats.
Against Memphis, Clemson led by five points with one minute remaining in the game but they could not put away their opponent, leading to their second defeat of the year by a score of 87-82.
Just four days later, it was a three-point loss, 91-88, that occurred against South Carolina.
Those games showed just how much room for growth the Tigers still had despite advancing to the Elite Eight in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
It also exposed areas in which the team needed to improve on the court if they were going to reach their potential. The most glaring issues were on the defensive side of the ball, namely stopping the ball and limiting 3-pointers.
Memphis and the Gamecocks both shot over 40 percent from 3-point range, making a combined 19 attempts.
Against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in their second ACC game of the season, Clemson was more engaged on the defensive side of the ball. They held their opponents to 3-of-13 shooting from behind the arc in a convincing 73-62 win.
It was a performance that drew praise from head coach Brad Brownell, as he was happy to see his guys bounce back after two heartbreaking losses.
“We had the day off after South Carolina, which was good to get away from each other. We had a couple of tough days. We watched a lot of film, which some of which wasn’t very pleasing. We practiced really hard on Thursday and met last night, and I’m proud of our team for bouncing back. They are a really good team and second in the league, and we got back to being ourselves,” said the coach, via Grayson Mann of TigerNet.
It was the exact kind of response a head coach wants to see from his players. They didn’t let the loss get to them and snowball into something bigger, snapping that losing streak and starting what they hope will be an extended winning streak.
Another lengthy period of time off followed that win, as the team will be off for the holidays. They will be back at it against the Stanford Cardinal for a home game on Jan. 1 as their schedule picks up from that point on.
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