Close to confirmed, the Clemson Tigers walked into Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with dreams of leaving with an ACC tournament double-bye secured and a guaranteed spot in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field. To the tune of 67-63, Clemson’s dreams were delayed.
On a night when No. 17 UNC hung its 54th jersey in the rafters, Clemson was intimidated by the reputation of its opponent. With rafters draped and bleachers filled with Carolina blue, it was impossible for Brad Brownell’s lineup to put together 40 minutes of winning basketball — but they sure tried hard.
The first half was streaky: a 6-0 Clemson run, then an 8-0 UNC run and a 5-0 outburst from Butta Johnson to end the half. After Clemson finished the first half up 30-27, the Tar Heels found the shots that would slowly extract every last ounce of Tiger momentum from the first.
With four minutes left in a tightly contested, back-and-forth second half, the Smith Center reached a whole new level of loud — UNC had just drained 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions and transformed Clemson’s 55-53 lead into a 55-59 deficit.
The Tigers would come up short on their next two possessions, and a jumper from Seth Trimble pushed UNC’s lead to six with two minutes to play. But suddenly, a deep three from Ace Buckner and an RJ Godfrey trip to the free throw line had Clemson within two with less than 90 seconds on the clock. Surely not, right?
Depends on whether you box out defensive rebounds. After a well-defended possession, UNC’s Luka Bogavac settled for a poor shot late in the shot clock. The clank was loud. So loud, in fact, that Jarin Stevenson quietly slithered in and scooped up an offensive rebound for the Tar Heels.
UNC knocked down a three on that extra possession.
Late Dillon Hunter heroics provided a sliver of hope, but ultimately to no avail.
As one of, if not the most, famed college basketball programs in the country, UNC reminded Clemson just how hard it is to win on its home turf. With the loss, Clemson’s all-time record playing in Chapel Hill is now 2-61.
But if there was a bright spot, it was undoubtedly the emergence of Godfrey. In his first 20-point game of the season, Godfrey finished with a career-high 22 points and nine rebounds.
In the first half, Godfrey banked in a three and was a toe away from tallying another in the second half. Before tipoff, he had previously only made one 3-pointer on the season. When shots are falling from deep for No. 0, it’s always destined to be a career day.
The paint belonged to the 6-foot-10 forward, and he looked like scoring every time he entered the post. At 10-for-13 from the field, Godfrey embodied efficiency.
Operating simultaneously in the paint for most of the night, Carter Welling posted a strong showing as well with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Now, Clemson is sitting at No. 5 in the ACC, just outside the top four, all of whom will receive a double-bye in the ACC tournament. Luckily, March Madness should be mostly guaranteed for the Tigers. However, a win over Georgia Tech — who is currently last in the ACC — in their final game of the season at home this Saturday would mathematically guarantee a ticket to the big dance.
