What We Learned From Clemson Basketball's Win Over Gardner-Webb

The Clemson Tigers men’s basketball team finished its first week of the regular season undefeated, rolling over the Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs by a score of 97-59.

Here are a few takeaways from head coach Brad Brownell’s new-look team.

Clemson’s defense is legitimate

Brownell’s full-court sets have been stifling for opposing offenses so far, and it has allowed Clemson to take strong leads early in contests.

The sets caused the Runnin’ Bulldogs to get out of rhythm early throughout possessions, constantly working through a guard to get across the half-court line. It helped allow 16 turnovers, which Clemson turned into 22 points on the other end of the floor.

The Tigers’ ability to switch off players was apparent in the contest, causing Gardner-Webb to have long possessions that tended not to go anywhere. Switch-offs and pick-and-rolls shuffled each player’s mark, but the team moved through the transitions swiftly.

“I think there’s a chance that can be good for us a times,” Brownell said. “You know, it’ll be much more challenging, though, when wer’re playing teams that are bigger, like, you know, it’ll be completely different and it’ll be hard to then.”

For the second consecutive game, Brownell’s team outrebounded its opponent by a large margin. Big bodies like RJ Godfrey and Carter Welling helped clean the Clemson glass, which helped limit second-chance points.

That’s been a clear switch from last season to this season, and Clemson’s strength on defense could be an important point of emphasis going into tougher competition.

The bench is as advertised

The team had 44 bench points on Friday night, continuing to provide extra relief for Brownell’s rotation. Once again, all 12 players saw minutes in the team’s rotation in the win, and all but one recorded points in the win.

Everybody is carrying the load on the second shift for the team. Guard Dillon Hunter picked up two fouls within the first two minutes of the game, which led the way for the Clemson backcourt, filled with bench pieces Ace Buckner and Zac Foster.

Foster recorded five assists and five rebounds, seeing a larger role and playing 24 minutes, a team-high.

The duo filled the stat sheet on both sides of the ball, as well as Welling, who finished with a double-double in only his second game in a Clemson uniform. The forward scored 14 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, five of those being offensively and turned into second-chance points.

Welling, recovering from a foot injury suffered this past summer, has found a lot of success with the second shift in his first two games as a Tiger.

“It feels good, you know, that summer work. I was out a lot during the summer, you know, but the work I’ve put in to, you know, finally paying off and being challenged everyday by Nick [Davidson] and RJ [Godfrey], it’s pretty fun.”

If the Tigers can continue to get that production from off the bench, it will allow Brownell to have tons of options to use in different situations. 10 players played over 15 minutes or more, and that will continue to be a focal point in Clemson’s season going forward.

Ball movement will decide this team’s ceiling

Clemson had 25 assists in the win, nearly doubling the 13 recorded against New Hampshire in the opening game of the year. Nine players had two assists or more, and everybody was stuffing the stat sheet at Littlejohn Coliseum.

The Tigers only allowed three turnovers as well, which Brownell acknowledged after the game, saying that he was “pleased with the way we shared the ball.”

“There were some great passing, extra passing, guys giving up good shots for great ones, and that’s good for the spirit of our team,” he added.

It was the extra pass that helped the Tigers propel past the Fightin’ Bulldogs in the victory. Several times throughout the contest, fast ball movement saw an open guy down low or beyond the arc, knocking down the points necessary to gain a large lead.

Some flair from the team helped get guys open as well. In the first half, Foster used a no-look pass on an inbound play underneath the basket to hit Butta Johnson for a corner three. It helps space out some of the players, even if it involved a little risk.

If Clemson continues to be able to distribute the ball at an elite level like it did on Friday night, it will be very tough for teams to keep up. The Tigers will be back in action against Morehead State on Tuesday night at home.