Clemson Basketball Coach Voices Frustration With ACC Tournament

On Saturday, Clemson ended its regular season with a 79-76 win at home over Georgia Tech. 

The victory improved the Tigers to 22-9 overall and 12-6 in ACC play, the fifth-best in the conference.

Clemson will enter the ACC Tournament trying to boost its stock for the NCAA Tournament. The next opponent for the Tigers is unknown, but they will play on Wednesday night in the second round.

Clemson has the late game for the second round. Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. ET.

On Monday, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell voiced a concern about the late start, noting that it makes it harder to continue to play through the tournament.

“If you win a game, you’re at night at 9:30, you’re just trying to get your guys to bed, which is really difficult because everybody’s amped up because you won a game, and then you’ve got to try to cram the next morning as best as you can,” Brownell said, via Sports Illustrated.

“Let them sleep for a while, and then cram the next morning, early afternoon. It’s just different routines.”

Clemson will play the winner of Tuesday night's contest against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. 

Brownell suggested the defense will need to play better against the winner than it did in the regular season.

“I don’t think we guarded as well as we needed to in either game, and certainly some of that’s a credit to them and the way those guys played,” Brownell said. “I thought they played with great pace and got off to good starts in both games.”

Wake Forest got the better of the Tigers in their last matchup on Feb. 18. The Demon Deacons won at home by a score of 85-77. 

VT also stung the Tigers in their most recent contest. The Hokies traveled to Clemson and beat the Tigers 76-66 on Feb. 11.

Both ACC teams will provide a challenge to Clemson in the ACC Tournament. 

Wednesday night's game will be a test the Tigers need to pass if they want confidence and hope heading into the NCAA Tournament.