Was Brad Brownell 'Surprised' by Foul-Shooting Disparity in Clemson's Loss at Duke?

Clemson nearly pulled off a shocker at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night, but its head coach might not be surprised about how the game went in one key statistical category.

The Tigers fell a bucket shy in a 71-69 victory by No. 9 Duke. Maybe a few trips to the free-throw line would've changed the outcome.

Brad Brownell's team, however, only got one call all night that sent them to the charity stripe, and that led to just one attempt, a miss by Alex Hemenway with 12:41 left in the game. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, went 11-of-13 from the free-throw line.

That's the kind of disparity that leaves a coach shaking his head in a close loss. After the game, Brownell was asked by the media if he was "surprised" his team only shot one free throw.

"Uh, yes," Brownell replied.

Then he paused for a moment, took off his glasses and said, "That's happened before here, too."

Brownell followed that statement up by shaking his head and moving on to the next question, stopping short of saying anything critical about the officiating.

And then there's this:

Had over 20 people ask over Twitter the last time Clemson had just one free throw attempt in a game. Went back 43 years so far. Two was fewest I found vs. Louisiana Tech in 1980-81 and vs Wake Forest in 1994-95. More digging tomorrow.
— Tim Bourret (@TimBourret) January 26, 2022

Update on free throw attempt stat. Clemson was 0-1 from the line vs Miami on Feb. 8, 2015. So last night was second game in 43 years with just one attempt.
— Tim Bourret (@TimBourret) January 26, 2022

As a team, the Tigers move on to a short break this weekend from game action, but coming up short against the Blue Devils will sting. Clemson made 11 3-pointers, won the rebounding battle and defended a much bigger Duke squad well in defeat.

Paolo Banchero scored around the basket with 13 seconds left to give Duke a four-point lead, and the Tigers ran out of time trying to stay in the game.

"I'm really proud of my team and my players for the way we competed," Brownell said. "We stuck with what we tried to do tonight. I thought we played well on both ends. Give Duke credit. They made plays they needed to make."

The Tigers currently own the worst odds of winning the ACC, at +5000, according to Fanduel.

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