December has been a brutal month for head coach Brad Brownell and the Clemson Tigers, but there’s a lot to take away from their strong finishes.
Clemson defeated Cincinnati in the team’s final game before the holiday break. Following the win, the players will head to their respective homes before their next matchup on December 31 in Syracuse. With this victory, the Tigers closed out their non-conference schedule and gained valuable insights about their team.
Brownell, reflecting on the win, gave heavy credit to the Bearcats for their performance. The team welcomed back guard Jizzle James for his second game, and the Clemson head coach acknowledged that Cincinnati is a better team with him on the floor.
“We actually opened the door for them and, you know, they’re a much different team with Jizzle James,” Brownell said. “They’re much better. They have another guy that can get by you, make plays, so this was a really good win.”
Clemson led by as much as 27 points before the Bearcats pushed the game to a one-point contest with 40 seconds remaining — the closest the game was since the opening tip. The Tigers have overcome a lot over the last two weeks, including close losses to ranked Alabama and BYU.
Regardless of how the game unfolded, the win was all Brownell wanted, and he expressed pride in his team’s effort.
“I’m really proud of this group,” he said. “We had a very good non-conference, 10 wins, right? Played some really good teams, saw a lot of different things like tonight.”
Looking ahead to the new year, Brownell challenged his team to play complete basketball. After a slow start against the Crimson Tide and a buzzer-beater loss to the Cougars, among others, Brownell wants to see 40 full minutes of tough, physical basketball. If the Tigers can achieve that, they could compete at a level comparable to some of the best teams in the country.
Brownell also gave credit to the opposing coaches.
“We’ve played a lot of good halves against the high major teams,” he said. “We haven’t played a full 40 minutes great, but I think some of that is, it’s hard to do that. The other teams are good too. Their coaches are going to make adjustments.”
Going into the break with a 38-18 advantage, similar to what happened in the BYU loss, Brownell anticipated the momentum shift from the Cincinnati bench. He expressed some disappointment in his team’s response.
“We knew the game was going to flip to some degree, probably at some point, unless we got up to the great start in the beginning of the second half,” he said, “and I was a little disappointed with our guys for that.”
As Clemson prepares for ACC play in two weeks, the current weeks won’t be as rigorous as December has been. Between finals week, extensive travel with tight deadlines, and illnesses—Brownell noted that a few players “have the sniffles”—this holiday week will provide much-needed recovery time.
“I just, I think we were physically worn down finals week,” Brownell said. “Just tired, and so yes, this is coming at a very good time for our guys.”
Will Clemson be able to play that full 40-minute contest once ACC play begins? Only time will tell. For now, this recovery period is more important than ever.
https://www.si.com/college/clemson/basketball/despite-close-cincinnati-win-brad-brownell-proud-of-clemson-basketball-efforts-