PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Despite everything that goes on in a season, the postseason is what is remembered, and for the Clemson Tigers, it will be one to shake off.
The No. 5-seeded Tigers suffered a tough loss to the No. 12-seeded McNeese State Cowboys 69-67 at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, ending the team’s 2024-25 season.
The game wasn’t as close as the score told it to be. Clemson struggled with turning the ball over and rebounding, which allowed McNeese an 18-point lead in the first half. The Cowboys scored 19 points off turnovers and 11 second-chance points in the opening 20 minutes.
At the break, the Tigers had scored the least amount of points by an ACC team in the tournament since Wake Forest in 2001. That was also the lowest amount of points the team scored in the first half.
Similar to the loss to Louisville in the ACC Tournament, Clemson fought back late. Down 18 with under seven minutes to go, the team cut the lead to as little as five. Chase Hunter contributed to much of this, scoring all his points in the second frame to finish with 21 points in his final game in a Clemson uniform.
Throughout the final two minutes of the game, the team traded free throws and 3-pointers. Every time the Cowboys would make either one or both, the Tigers immediately responded with a 3-pointer or quick layup.
Time would run out for the team, however. A contested Hunter layup as the clock struck zero would only cut the lead to two, sending the Cowboys to the next round of the tournament.
After the half ended, the Tigers scored 54 points in the second half, which is tied for a season-best.
Jaeden Zackery scored a career-high 24 points for the Tigers on Thursday afternoon, another Tiger who will have played his final game.
During the late game Clemson surge, momentum was halted as the Tigers were beginning to cut the lead due to Viktor Lakhin fouling out of the game. He picked up his fourth, then immediately picked up a technical foul for an altercation with a McNeese player. The team was without its top rim protector for the remaining six minutes of the game, which was also his last collegiate game.
For Brownell, a lot is to be watched when approaching this offseason. With the losses of Hunter, Lakhin, Zackery and Ian Schieffelin, eyes now will look toward how to replicate the team’s success from the regular season and a deep postseason run once again.
