Clemson Basketball Looks to Move Past Disappointment as the NIT Approaches
The Clemson Tigers are still playing postseason basketball. That’s a sentence that’s true even if it’s not including all of the context. Very few tournament-level basketball games center around disappointment instead of hope, but for this contest between Clemson and Morehead State, that’s exactly the feeling each program is dealing with. At least until tip-off.
Like the Tigers, Morehead State was a team bound for big dance after finishing first in Ohio Valley by a wide margin. They finished the regular season at 21-10 with a respectable 14-4 conference record. That led to a large 3-game separation between the Eagles and the 2nd place finishers Tennessee Tech. Yet it was a team tied for third in the conference, Southeastern Missouri, that ended Morehead’s hopes of being one of this year's Cinderellas on a national stage.
The selection committee made their decision this past Sunday and now it’s time to see if the Clemson players and coaching staff can put that behind them in order to compete for a title they have a legitimate shot at winning. The Tigers were awarded the No. 1 seed and will have a couple of days to gather themselves before competing again on Wednesday night.
It may not mean much to anyone watching, but to this program winning the NIT would at least allow them the opportunity for a proverbial “slap in the face” to those on the Committee who deemed them not worthy on a higher stage. How competitive is this team really? The highest competitors take satisfaction in winning no matter when or where that game is played. It’s all going to show one way or another before this season’s over.
The Tigers are set to take on Morehead State on March 15th at 4:00 p.m. at Littlejohn Coliseum. The game can be streamed live on ESPN+.
