By Ron Pitts Urban Media Today Sports
Clemson, SC–Clemson Tigers (3-0) led by head coach Brad Brownell took on Georgetown Hoyas (3-0) led by head coach Ed Cooley for an ACC and Big East showdown. The Tigers hit the floor with their leading scorer Ace Buckner who averages 19.7 ppg. Clemson will have their hands full trying to slow down the Hoyas leading scorer Vince Iwuchukwu averaging 20.3 ppg.
The Hoyas came out strong and built a first half lead as large as 19 points over the Tigers. The Tigers shot 40% in the first half while allowing the Hoyas to shoot 58%. The Hoyas jumped out to a big lead on the back of Iwuchukwu with 16 points. However, Dallas Thomas put in 9 points to help keep the Tigers in the game. Clemson went into the Locke room trailing 47-32. The Tigers will need to address Coach Brownell’s biggest concern in the second half and that’s coming out with a solid team defensive presence to slow down the Hoyas shooting night from the field and the paint.
The Tigers came out in the second half and put some stops together while scoring and eventually took a 66-64 lead over Georgetown with 6:23 left in the game led by Buckner and Cole Certa. However it wasn’t enough to get over the hump to win tonight. The Hoyas pulled away down the stretch with Jaland Lowe (16) and Elmark Jackson (12) leading in scoring in the second half.
Coach Cooley was pleased with his team’s maturity and composure to be able to have the lead, lose the lead, and to finish the game with a win. Cooley was asked about his senior Jaland Lowe, two big threes down the stretch once Clemson took the lead. He went on to say, “he should do that, and that’s what we expect him to do and that’s why he’s here”.
Ace Buckner said they felt disrespected to allow a team to come in and get up by 20. He repeatedly focused on the lack of defense and putting 40 minutes together. Cole Certa who was able to see the ball go in tonight, scored 14 points, said it felt good seeing it go in tonight after not shooting well during the first few games of the season. Certa went on to say they were disappointed not putting a full game together. However, the goal is putting 40 minutes together and not just playing in spurts.
Coach Brownell said his team wasn’t as good tonight. He attributed it to Georgetown having a really good team. The theme for tonight and the season so far has been a lack of defensive breakdowns, effort, and just the overall want to win according to Brownell. He spoke even in games such as this the Tigers played great in pockets but still needed to put two halves together. Coach Brownwell was asked about his halftime message to the team that pushed to come back and take the lead in the second half. He said that he let them know he was disappointed. He wanted to see more effort and eliminate errors. He was pleased with their toughness in making the comeback, but he still wasn’t pleased with the errors down the stretch.
Clemson Scoring Leaders:
Points: Ace Buckner-20
Rebounds: Cole Certa and Chase Thompson-5
Assist: Ace Buckner-5
The 3-1 Tigers will try to bounce back to the winning column as they welcome The Citadel Bulldogs to Littlejohn Monday November 16 at 7:00pm.