Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell Reveals Biggest Issue From Four-Game Skid

Clemson basketball has been in a rut over the last four games, and head coach Brad Brownell has seen a common theme in the losing streak.

After the Tigers’ loss to Florida State on Saturday, Clemson allowed 37 second-half points to allow the Seminoles to steal an away win at Littlejohn Coliseum. Defensive breakdowns have been key to have Brownell’s team lose this many games in a row, the first time since the 2021-22 season.

That’s been the glaring issue for the No. 2 scoring defense in the ACC during this two-week stretch, and the head coach addressed it during the ACC coaches' teleconference.

“I think defensively, we haven’t been nearly as good,” Brownell said on Monday. "I think the Duke game was our best defensive game of the four. We did not guard Florida State well at all in the second; that was a problem.”

Brownell also went on to say the Wake Forest loss last Wednesday was the “worst defensive game of the year”, allowing the Demon Deacons to score 85 points. That was the first time that amount was allowed on Clemson since the Alabama loss in December and the most in conference play.

Through these consistent breakdowns, Clemson fell out of the AP Top 25 two weeks ago, dropped to an No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament projections and is now on the outside looking in of a double-bye spot in the ACC Tournament.

The team needs to guard better, and going back to that identity will allow the Tigers to get back to the form that it had in the month of January.

“I’ve said it all along, the strength of our team is our team and our defense,” he said. “That, those two both, it’s going to take a lot of contribution from a lot of players. We have to have a lot of players play well on the same day to win, and our defense has to be elite.”

Perhaps the fact of no mid-week game comes at a great time, with Brownell having time to hone in on one team this week: No. 24 Louisville. Clemson’s biggest home game this season will be against one of the top offenses in the conference.

The Cardinals are tied for first in the ACC in points per game at 86.8, being the same as SMU. They’ve scored 80 or more points in six of the last seven games, but put multiple scoring droughts on Pat Kelsey’s group, and things could change in Clemson’s favor.

To win that game, similarly to how the Tigers battled SMU for their first ranked win of the season, they’ll need to play elite defense to prove they belong with some of the top teams in the conference, and the country.

Brownell believes his group has one of the best defenses in the country, and that will need to be on display if Clemson wants to snap its streak with an emphatic win.

“It has to be one of the top defenses in the league for us to beat some of these teams,” he said, “and it has not been the last couple of weeks, and it’s my job to find a way to fix that.”

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.