Clemson Tigers Fall Behind Early Again, Lose Third Straight Game to Wake Forest

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Climbing an uphill battle is physical, tough and requires at least twice the work. For Clemson basketball, that’s been seen three times in the last seven days.

The Tigers fell behind by as much as 20 before losing to Wake Forest at the LVJM Coliseum on Wednesday night. A 85-77 loss to the Demon Deacons had Clemson losing its third straight game, the first time since the 2023-24 season that the Tigers have dropped that many games in a row.

Out of the gate, the pace hurt Clemson, which Brownell touched on after the game.

“The first half, we were certainly a step slow behind the play on defense,” Brownell said after the game. “I knew they ran their stuff fast, and we just, I don’t know, for whatever reason, we just weren’t able to keep up.”

At the end of the first half, the Demon Deacons shot 66.7% from the field and 50% from three, compared to Clemson’s 40% and 30%, respectively. By that point, while the Tigers fought back to a lead as small as six, but by that point, perfect basketball needed to be played.

Clemson couldn’t do that.

“I thought we had a great practice on Monday, decent on Tuesday, but their pace of play and their enthusiasm to compete was fantastic,” Brownell said, “and our was not as good as it needed to be.”

While the Duke loss was the anomaly during this three-game skid, Virginia Tech had similar success, shooting 7 of 11 from three in the first frame while going into the half up seven on Clemson inside Littlejohn Coliseum. Brownell think that the team’s current tempo could lead to a change coming within the lineup shortly.

“Obviously, we did not play well against Virginia Tech. . .I don’t have an answer to that,” he said. “We’re certainly looking at it. We need to change our lineup. I don’t know, but we can’t keep getting behind like we’ve had.”

An uphill battle can bring learning lessons, however, which the Clemson head coach brought up in the Gene Overby Press Room following Clemson’s seventh loss of the season. The Tigers have time to still catch fire ahead of the postseason with four games remaining this season. ‘

That begins with Florida State on Saturday afternoon, and it’s a trip back home that Brownell will continue to encourage his team about.

“They are getting a taste of reality. It’s hard. I think something when you’re winning like that, you don’t maybe understand how hard it is to win. Take it for granted a little bit. We certainly knew that.”

It’s a Seminole team that’s won six of the last eight games, being another hot ACC team that the Demon Deacons were like on Wednesday night.

“So, we’re getting Wake at a time when they’ve kind of regrouped and gathered themselves back, and they’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Brownell said, “and we’re going to do the same thing up with Florida State on Saturday.”