Clemson loses road matchup with Syracuse |
The Orange earn an impressive win for their NCAA resume.
Clemson (15-6, 9-6 ACC) lost 64-54 in a road matchup against Syracuse (15-8, 9-7 ACC) on Wednesday night. The Tigers had previously won the last three against the Orange and still lead the all-time series 7-5. It was rough for the Tigers early as they were down 11-4 to start the contest. The Syracuse zone with their lengthy defenders can do that for teams as it usually takes a while for opponents to find their rhythm offensively. Clemson showed fight and battled back within three points of the lead for a halftime score of 25-22. Both teams couldn't throw the basketball in the ocean in the first half shooting, making only seven baskets each. The Tigers during that span were 7-31 for an ugly 22.5 percent clip. "I didn't think we moved the ball the first half as we liked," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said to the media during his postgame availability. "I thought we were in a little slow." Guard Alex Hemenway had 11 points and two assists while Al-Amir Dawes was solid with 11 points, two assists, and two rebounds in the loss. Aamir Simms finished with six points, eight rebounds, and three assists. "Both teams struggled a little bit offensively early on," Brownell said. "I felt like our guys were very passive against the zone in the first half. We just didn't move the ball like we practiced. Our defense was pretty good in the first half. We did the things we needed to do to stay in the game, but our offense didn't get better." The combo of Alan Griffin and Buddy Boeheim was too much offensively for the Tigers as they went for 22 points and 17 points respectively. "We let Griffin get away from us and make threes, and [Syracuse] made easy baskets in transition," Brownell added. "[The Orange] played better than we did today, and Griffin's shooting was a big factor. We needed to play high-level offense, but we didn't. We didn't shoot well enough." The home win for Syracuse gave them a 13-1 record at the Carrier Dome, which is the best record in nearly a decade. Next up for Clemson will be a home game with Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon (12 p.m. ET) on RSN.
Upgrade Your Account
Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.
Upgrade Now
