Everything Clemson MBB head coach Brad Brownell said after the loss to South Carolina

Clemson head men’s basketball coach Brad Brownell spoke to the media after the team’s 91-88 overtime loss to South Carolina on Tuesday. Here’s everything he had to say.

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Opening statement

“First of all, congratulations to South Carolina. (It was a) good win. (It was an) incredibly hard-fought, competitive game — swings both ways, definitely. (I) never would have thought either team would score, like they did in the second half. When they come in, both teams’ defenses have been very good. But (in) the second half, neither team could really stop each other the free throw block misses for us — we had two (that) were critical. (We’re) proud of our guys for fighting. We just, kind of … (it’s) the second game in a row where we dug one hole and just had to keep fighting all the way back. Definitely fouling was an issue for us at the end. And again, they just made one or two more plays. Collin Murray-Boyles down the stretch was probably the difference.”

About what Brownell told Clemson’s players at halftime

“I didn’t think we had a particularly good pace. I didn’t think we did much of what we came into the game trying to do; I thought we were making soft cuts. They pushed us a little bit; it bothered some of us. We just didn’t have the energy and the competitive fight that we needed from the start. Why that is, I don’t really know. Of course, I think we got it throughout the game. Of course, both teams are going to play a little better offensively when the benches help, but I don’t really know why that was. Certainly, Chase (Hunter)‘s play was fantastic in the second half for us – and overtime.”

On Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lakhin, who are out of the game

“Yes, obviously, Victor (Lakhin) had one of his worse games for us all year. He is coming off a great game and for some reason he didn’t play well tonight. Ian (Scheffelin) Fouling is obviously a problem with Viktor already entrenched. We have that Christian (Reeves) in there, which doesn’t play that much for us, is still kind of a developmental big. I’m proud of him – I thought he did some good things. And of course they had to contend with Colin Murray-Boyles, who was in some foul trouble, so he didn’t play as much as he usually does. Both teams jockeyed throughout the game.

On what Brownell saw from South Carolina

“They have a good team. They can play big; they can play small. (Nick) Pringle helps them. When they have him and (Murray) Boyles out there, they are a big strong physical team and they can do that. A guy who (Myles) Steer has been shooting the ball poorly all year, makes five threes against us today. But they can spread you out and put pressure on your team because of it. We talked about ‘big lineup versus small lineup’ in the game, but we didn’t have an answer to that.”

Seeing Murray-Boyles and Schieffelin show up and lead their respective teams

“I mean, they’re both great players. Collin’s a little longer and a little more athletic. Ian just plays with tremendous heart and spirit. And they’re big pieces of both teams because of that. They’re both smart players; they have both high assist numbers this year – unselfish guys. So definitely (they’re) great guys to coach and watch play.”

On what Clemson needs to adjust after two consecutive overtime losses

“You know, I don’t know. Kind of like I told my team, I need to watch the film to get more — a better understanding of what really happened. I just didn’t think we played very well, and something of that is South Carolina. Offensively we were okay, we got our confidence back, got a little bit of rhythm in the second half, because Viktor played not particularly well, whatever the reason – I have to see why that is. And he’s been a good player for us. So I’ll have to see more before I can give you a better answer on that .”

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About Stute’s performance caught Clemson off guard

“I mean, we label him a shooter because almost all of his shots are threes. But it’s tough. They’ve got a lot of guys that can shoot. Morris (Ugusuk) has been shooting the lights out lately, if that’s how you pronounce his name. And then, (Jamarii) Thomas is a good player who didn’t shoot it well tonight. Jacob Wright can make threes. I mean, they can spread you out with four, five guys that can shoot the ball in. And of course they have good inside players who can score. So they’re physically down like we are and they can be a tough cover at times.

On Clemson’s recent string of performances

“Yeah, it was a quick turnaround for us. It was an emotional loss for Memphis. I mean, it was tough. We’ve had a tough run here with a huge win against Kentucky, and then we’re going to hit the road right away and play a conference game and then bounce back. And we had finals – and not an excuse because we had a lot of practice and all that – and we played a very good Memphis team and lost it at the end. It was emotional draining. Then you got the rivalry game on the road, so you got no juice from the fans. Actually, it’s just you, and you really have to have grit.

“I’m proud of the way we fought to give ourselves chances, but it’s like I told the guys — and I said it after the Memphis game — it’s not a game you can just play hard. Playing hard won’t be enough in this rivalry – you have to execute. And we did not execute. We had missed blocks. We had a couple of mistakes in the front court where they now have to go down and shoot free throws – we give them points. Of course, we had a few other things that were problematic. As the game went on, we got a little better. But then we probably died in the end. I thought we’ve been tired late in both overtimes and haven’t been able to get the stops we need. And I have to do a better job. I had to do a better job of helping my team figure out how to stop (Murray)-Boyles.”

On where Clemson struggled in the first half

“I think it’s a combination — I think their aggressiveness and just (a) good plan. And they’re a good defensive team. I mean, we told our guys, ‘These guys don’t make a lot of mistakes.’ They’re in front of you. They have a couple of different ball screens. And they have some length, good on-ball guys. They’re just not turning the ball over doesn’t have bad floor balance, so you’re not going to get a lot of turnovers. We got a few in the second half, which was good. You really have to execute, and we just looked a little disjointed at times well, (and) I don’t know exactly why we didn’t flow as well as I would have liked in the first half. I thought we took some bad shots.”

About playing this rival game while class is not in session

“I’ve been dealing with this for 15 years or whatever. It’s a tough schedule. I don’t want this to be our opener; I really don’t want it to be our second game. I want , that both teams play a little bit, so we can figure out who we have, especially in this day and age. And then, all of a sudden, we’re playing conference games the first week we got the ACC/SEC Challenge. We always have MTE tournaments, they do; we have finals is just so many things that it’s going to be a really hard, small window to try to figure out. And we don’t have it all figured out now until next year. So I know, next year we’re kind of doing these (every) other year . So when we play here without students, they come back and play without students – but in any case, it’s not easy to solve.”

On Hunter’s ability to bring Clemson back into the game

“He’s a great player. I’m super proud of him because he’s grown as a young man and player in our program for a long time. And he’s definitely showing his talent and it’s big games when he’s probably the only guy on our team that can do all that. To do that when you need to, it’s not easy, especially coming off a game where he made a big shot and then had a couple of tough ones game at the end. But it shows great resilience, and of course I am very proud of him.”