By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

CLEMSON — In four of Clemson’s five losses this year, slow starts have played as a major contributor.

In losses to Purdue, Arizona, Coastal Carolina and Florida State, the Tigers struggled on both ends of the floor and fell behind by double digits in the opening 10 minutes. In each game, Clemson ultimately fought its way back, only to run out of gas in the end.

“It has been the story of this team all year,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said Monday.

Against Purdue, the Tigers (8-5, 0-1 ACC) found themselves down 20 points in the opening half before losing 73-61. In the Arizona game, they were down 14 points early and rallied to take the lead midway through the second half, but could not hang on as the Wildcats pulled away in the final five minutes for a 66-54 victory.

Another slow start cost Clemson dearly at Coastal Carolina as the Chanticleers led by eight at the break and then more than doubled that in the second half for an easy 69-46 victory.

Then there is last Saturday’s ACC opener with Florida State. The Tigers made just two of their first 13 shots in the game and fell behind 24-9 in the opening 10 minutes. The Seminoles went on to win the game, 71-66.

“I guess it is the lack of energy we have from the beginning,” center Devin Booker said. “I’m not sure what causes that, but we have to find out what that is and just fix it.”

Clemson needs to find out in a hurry. The Tigers travel to top-ranked Duke Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPNU) where a slow start could equal to things getting away from them and getting very ugly before halftime. The Blue Devils (14-0, 1-0) are shooting 42.1 percent from three-point range and have five players averaging 10 points or more.

Brownell says the slow starts are complex and they are doing everything they can to fix it.

“Once we think we have one thing solved, something else comes up and haunts you,” he said.

What haunted Clemson in last Saturday’s loss to Florida State was bad transition defense, which was a direct result of poor shooting on offense. The Tigers were just 7 of 22 from the floor in the first half, including a 1-for-7 effort from behind the arc.

“We have done pretty well in transition defense and played pretty well so we kind of moved on to other things and then one of these things comes right back out and haunts you, and you’re transition defense is bad again,” Brownell said.

Brownell says there were a number of breakdowns in their transition defense against Florida State. He says a couple of times younger players like guards Adonis Filer and Jordan Roper either forgot where they were supposed to be or they did not trust the defense and attack the basketball the way they should.

In all these instances it left shooters wide open, which FSU took advantage of and knocked down open shots.

Brownell says these issues all started on the offensive end as too many missed shots led to too many transition baskets for Florida State.

“We have to figure out a way to make our guys feel comfortable and confident with our plan, and give them a plan that is going to give them a chance to have some success so they’re confident within the game,” he said. “That’s really the only thing that can happen that can help your guys.

“You can talk about this, that or the other, but until they experience some success in that environment, they are always going to question it a little bit.”