Clemson Basketball Can't Hold On, Falls to No. 17 North Carolina in Chapel Hill

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Clemson basketball couldn’t hang on against No. 17 North Carolina, losing 67-63 to the Tar Heels inside the Dean E. Smith Center on Tuesday night.

With the loss, the Tigers will now be slotted at the No. 5 spot in the ACC standings, most likely seeing themselves as a single-bye spot

A true March chess match on the last week of the regular season, 10 lead changes determined the outcome for the Tigers, who allowed hot North Carolina shooting from deep to pull away in the final minutes and control the game’s ending.

Clemson had opportunities down the stretch, but Dillon Hunter couldn’t finish a layup that gave North Carolina the ball back with a second remaining, and therefore the game.

“They did a good job,” head coach Brad Brownell said after the game. “They switched everything. We had multiple screens and, you know, they did a good job. Their guys didn’t make any mistakes.”

On the back of a career-high performance from RJ Godfrey, the senior dominated in the paint to score 10 field goals and finish with 22 points and nine rebounds, keeping the group in the game and hitting his second three-pointer of the entire season in the first half to get the game going.

That was a common theme that Clemson couldn’t capitalize on in the first half: big man shooting. North Carolina forward Henri Veesaar played low and left a forward open at the top of the key for shots.

On the flip side, North Carolina opened up hot from deep, typically a team that remained reserved from beyond the arc to grow a lead as much as six before Clemson settled in on the Tar Heels’ Senior Night. The Tigers couldn’t hit the key threes, which were left open aplenty, going only three of 14 in the first half.

One of the threes proved to be crucial, coming from Butta Johnson from the edge of the North Carolina logo, with two seconds remaining. Clemson went into halftime with the lead. That wouldn’t be enough in the long run, though.

While leading by as much as five in the second half, the Tar Heels would use a 15-3 run and a three-minute Clemson scoring drought to gain a lead as much as seven at the 14:39 mark. Despite a strong-willed comeback, it wasn’t enough for a statement win that would have been the Tigers’ best-ranked win.

While the Tigers’ ACC Tournament line is almost set, a win over the Tar Heels on Tuesday night would have given Clemson a bump in its entire seed line. Going into tonight, the Tigers were a No. 8 seed going into the game, and will most likely remain at the line barring a strong ACC Tournament next week.

Despite the loss, Brownell remains optimistic about his team, which still has one regular-season game remaining this weekend, especially after a strong win over Louisville this past weekend.

"I think we're getting there," he said. "You know, we have had a tough couple of weeks, which in these long seasons happens, like most teams, go through a week or two that, you know, maybe don't go your way, sometimes you even play okay, but lose.

And, you know, these were two big games, Louisville and at home, and then at North Carolina, we competed exceptionally hard in both games. Got one of the two."

Clemson will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at home, facing Georgia Tech in a day that will include Senior Day activities.