Clemson Men's Basketball Overcome Adversity in Mercer Win After Hectic Week

Clemson men’s basketball weathered the storm to finish the week strong, coming home on Saturday with a come-from-behind victory over the Mercer Bears.

This week was not an easy one, which the players and head coach Brad Brownell both described after the game. Following a frustrating loss to BYU in New York City on Tuesday, where Clemson led by as much as 22, the team regrouped for more game preparation.

It caused the Tigers to come out a little slower than usual, and going into the halftime break on Saturday afternoon, the team was down by six. However, Brownell wasn’t going to make any excuses.

“You knew, coming in as a coach, these are hard,” he said. “Like it’s hard ot get our guys, you know, really ready, and our guys were fine, ike we weren’t not ready to play. I think that’s an easy excuse. I think we were ready to play.”

However, the team responded, using several runs and droughts to retake the lead by the 17:42 mark in the second frame. Brownell challenged his players to keep to their identity, and that was something guard Dillon Hunter touched on after the game.

“We just know what type of team we have,” Hunter said. “Those last two games are not, like, part of our play. You know, we didn’t want that to happen, but I think we needed this for team morale. . .it’s going to lift the team spirit.”

The week concludes, and though the Tigers have an exciting opponent at home in South Carolina this Tuesday, Brownell’s reflection of the week includes the fact that the team needs to recharge. With finals going on, a deflating loss in New York City with plenty of travel and Tiger Wonderland, Clemson’s annual event involving Christmas cheer in the community, he believes that the team was worn down.

“Your battery’s on, and sometimes when your battery’s like that, it, you know, can wear down, and I just think that’s what kind of happened to us a little bit,” Brownell said. “Thankfully, we were tough-minded enough to be able to fix it and beat a good team.”

Forward Nick Davidson will look at it as a week that strengthened the team in all aspects. An experience against a top 10 team, as well as balancing the other things on their plates, the Nevada transfer believes that the team handled the week strongly.

“Just kind of realizing that the work comes first,” Davidson said. “The responsibilities aren’t going to change, so you've got to rise to the occasion, and honestly, I think everyone did a really good job this week, especially considering a tough loss on the road.”

The two close games are only going to help the team, according to Brownell, who faces the Gamecocks after losing in overtime last season in Columbia, South Carolina. While he takes accountability, saying it was “poor scheduling”, he’s excited to see how the experience will help the Tigers in the future.

“We’ve played a lot of hard games,” he said. “We’ve played a lot of games that have come down to the end, and I’m sure South Carolina will be the same.”

Tipoff for Tuesday’s game from Littlejohn Coliseum will be at 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2.