Who Can Be The 'Closer' For Clemson Basketball?

In March of last year, Florida Gators guard Walter Clayton Jr. elevated.

After averaging 17.5 points per game in the regular season, Clayton Jr. stepped up and posted 22.3 points per game in the postseason. For Florida, he was “the guy,” and his ability to make plays when his team needed brought Florida to national championship glory.

Clemson basketball is still searching for that.

The Tigers have been successful this season, there’s no doubt about that. But when the going gets tough, consistent scoring has been a question left unanswered.

After a close overtime loss against NC State on Tuesday, head coach Brad Brownell was asked if not having a “go-to guy” was the culprit.

“Maybe a little, not having just a guy,” Brownell said.

But it’s not like there weren't opportunities to step up.

“I would have loved to have seen RJ go make that play late,” Brownell said. “I think he passed it, and I thought he might have been able to get to the rim or make a play.”

In the loss, RJ Godfrey led the team in points with 16 points along with seven rebounds. But late in overtime, he drove inside hard, then turned around and kicked the ball out to Butta Johnson, who turned it over.

When a team loses a close one, plays like that start to define a season.

Godfrey played 38 minutes on Tuesday night. Dillon Hunter and Jestin Porter also logged 38. Throw in 34 minutes from Carter Welling, and you have a four-name shortlist for “the guy.”

In all four of their losses this season, Clemson has lost to a large-volume scorer.

Georgetown’s KJ Lewis posted 26 points in November. Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr. scored 29 on the Tigers a few weeks later. Then BYU’s AJ Dybantsa put up 28 against Clemson in Madison Square Garden.

In all of those games, not one Clemson player scored 20 points. When the best players on the best teams get hot, the Tigers have struggled to keep up.

Porter has two 20-point games this season, and Clemson has won both of those. When his shots are falling, he can be a serious weapon.

Godfrey is yet to record more than 20 points in an outing this season, and Hunter hasn’t scored more than 10 points in any of his last nine games.

Obviously, there is more to being “the guy” than just logging 20 points. Sometimes you just need someone to make the right reads down the stretch. Sometimes you need someone who can get to the line and put down free throws.

With so much talent on the roster, someone like Godfrey might not be the guy every night — but he could be the guy one night, and that’s exactly what the Tigers need.

Clemson may not have “the guy” today. But as March closes in, someone has to answer the call.