They say a lot can change in a short time. In the case of Clemson, that has proven true in more ways than one, especially on Tuesday night, less than 24 hours after the football team was handled in the national championship game.
Prospects for the basketball season now look a bit different, to say the least. And more promising.
We’ve already talked about the Tigers finally beating North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Saturday. Unfortunately, that win likely doesn’t mean much if you want to talk about any NCAA Tournament hopes, as the Tar Heels are down significantly and without their best player due to injury. But coming home and beating Duke, as they did by a 79-72 margin on Tuesday night, will do that.
It’s the first time in 24 years that the Tigers beat both teams in the same season, and the last time they beat the two teams in consecutive games like this was 30 years ago, when they won their only ACC regular season title. That end result is not likely to repeat, but it’s not every day you knock off those two storied programs in the same season let alone in back-to-back games – and you might not even get them on your schedule in back-to-back games to even have that chance in most years.
Clemson led for most of the game after Duke scored the game’s first four points, but they had to do more than hold the Blue Devils off after leading by seven at the break. They led by nine early in the second half, but Duke rallied to take a 62-59 lead before a 14-3 run put the Tigers ahead for good.
Aamir Simms played like an All-American with 25 points on 10-15 shooting, along with nine rebounds and five assists. It’s the kind of potential he flashed earlier in the season, when Clemson showed some promise despite a season-opening home loss to Virginia Tech, which doesn’t look quite so bad now. They went to Las Vegas and stole one from TCU, then let one get away against Colorado, one they would surely love to have back. The latter started a four-game losing streak and a stretch with losses in six of seven before their current three-game winning streak.
Tevin Mack had 22 points and nine rebounds as well, and when those two get going, this team can be tough to beat. The win also makes Brad Brownell the winningest coach in school history.
Now you have to talk about Clemson as a potential NCAA Tournament team. They entered the week with a NET in the 90s, so they have plenty of work to do, but now they have the combination of wins and potential to merit being in the conversation. They have the aforementioned win over TCU, as well as NC State last week and now Duke, with no terrible losses. The worst losses are to South Carolina and Yale, both at home, but the Gamecocks should do well enough that this won’t be a fatal blow and Yale now looks like the team to beat in the Ivy League. They go to NC State on Saturday in a crucial game, as the Wolfpack look like a potential bubble team as well, so beating them twice could be helpful down the road.
Perhaps nothing will be more important for them later on than avoiding a bad loss, and in the ACC this year that is a bit harder than in some other years since the conference is down. The Tigers still have two games left against Wake Forest and Georgia Tech and have to go to Boston College (don’t let the Eagles’ 3-2 ACC mark fool you, as they are outside the top 150 in NET). They have also shown a bad propensity for home losses this year as well, having done that four times already. By the same token, they still have more quality win opportunities with two games against Louisville, trips to Virginia and fellow bubble team-at-best Virginia Tech, and a home date with Florida State.
Late last week, Clemson was basically an also-ran in college basketball, a team being discussed more for the possibility that a coaching change happens after the season than a run to make an NCAA Tournament appearance. Consecutive wins over North Carolina and Duke, however, have a way of changing that conversation, and quickly.
Side Dishes
In case you forgot how much of a meat grinder the Big Ten is this season, just look at Wisconsin pulling out a 56-54 win over Maryland in Madison. Wisconsin scored the final five points of the game, holding Maryland scoreless for the final 90 seconds, and got a three-pointer in the final seconds from Brad Davison to win it. The Terrapins are 3-3 in Big Ten play, and with 12 of the 14 teams in the top 41 of the NET rankings entering the week (only Northwestern and Nebraska are outside there, each about 100 spots lower), easy games are basically non-existent, though quality win opportunities are plentiful.
San Diego State remained undefeated by taking out Fresno State 64-55 on the road. It’s been a down year for the Bulldogs, but they gave the Aztecs all they could handle in the first half and were still in the game for a lot of the second half before succumbing. The Bulldogs shot just 36.4 percent from the field, and it’s tough to win that way when the opponent shoots 47 percent like the Aztecs did here.
Dayton forward Obi Toppin got hurt on Saturday, but you wouldn’t have known it from how he led the Flyers to an important 79-65 win over visiting VCU on Tuesday. He had 24 points on 9-16 shooting and nine rebounds as the Flyers shot 50 percent from the field and held VCU to 3-20 from long range to overcome 20 turnovers. VCU, fresh off a home loss to Rhode Island, could have used this one for their resume.
Other results of note: Louisville needed overtime to take out Pittsburgh 73-68; Florida pulled away from Ole Miss 71-55 in Gainesville; West Virginia thrashed TCU 81-49; Richmond kept Davidson sliding, going on the road to beat the Wildcats 70-64; Villanova beat DePaul for the 19th straight time, this one a 79-75 result in overtime to knock the Blue Demons to 0-4 in the Big East; Texas Tech took care of Kansas State 77-63 in Manhattan; Iowa took care of Northwestern 75-62 in Evanston; Mississippi State got their first SEC win by routing Missouri 72-45 in Starkville; and Virginia Tech went on the road and beat Wake Forest 80-70 behind 21 points and 13 rebounds from Tyrece Radford.
Ohio State ended their four game losing streak with an 80-68 win over Nebraska in Columbus, but the Buckeyes did so without Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr., who they suspended due to what the program termed “failure to meet program standards and expectations.” The sophomore guards both play important roles, as Washington starts and is their second-leading scorer, while Muhammad has started all but one game.
Kansas took care of Oklahoma 66-52 in Norman, but did so without leading scorer Devon Dotson due to a hip pointer. The sophomore guard was injured in Saturday’s loss to Baylor, and it is not known whether or not he might be out longer than just Tuesday night’s game.
Tonight’s Menu
A busy day of action actually gets started in the morning, and there are a few more games that tip before the usual 7 p.m. time for the earliest games.
- The aforementioned first game of the day is in the Patriot League, where Lafayette hosts league-leading Colgate (11 a.m.), and later on, American hosts Bucknell, who is chasing Colgate for the top spot (7 p.m.)
- The Northeast Conference picks up the early starts from there as Saint Francis U visits Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart hosts Central Connecticut (6 p.m.)
- One Big East team will no longer be undefeated when the night is young as Butler hosts Seton Hall (6:30 p.m.), then a little later on, Georgetown hosts Creighton (7 p.m.) and Xavier goes to Marquette in a battle of 1-3 teams (8 p.m.) and Providence hosts St. John’s (8:30 p.m.)
- A rarity is on tap in the ACC these days as Syracuse hosts Boston College with the Eagles having the better ACC mark (6:30 p.m.), then a little later, NC State hosts Miami in a key game and Florida State hosts Virginia (7 p.m.)
- Kentucky tries to stay on a roll as they visit South Carolina (6:30 p.m.), then Tennessee goes to Georgia (7 p.m.) and a rivalry game highlights later action as Alabama hosts undefeated Auburn (9 p.m.)
- A good one in the Big Ten is on tap early as Indiana visits Rutgers (7 p.m.), then Minnesota hosts Penn State (9 p.m.)
- In the Southern Conference, there has been much talk of four teams in particular, but Western Carolina is quietly 4-0 and visits Furman (7 p.m.)
- Iowa State gets a tough test on the road as they go to Baylor, while two teams that really need a win battle in Stillwater as Texas visits Oklahoma State (8 p.m.)
- A good one is on tap in the Southland Conference as Central Arkansas hosts a Stephen F. Austin team that is just a half game ahead of them (8 p.m.)
- The important action in the American Athletic Conference is all later on as Temple needs a win to get going as they host Wichita State and Houston hosts SMU (9 p.m.)
- The best game out west looks to be the lone Pac-12 contest, which is UCLA hosting Stanford (10 p.m.)
