By Will Vandervort.

By Will Vandervort

While watching an ACC basketball game earlier this week, Brad Brownell saw a note that flashed on the television screen that said the home team has won 20 of the last 22 ACC games.

“It is very difficult to win on the road in this conference. We all know that,” Brownell said.

Brownell also knows his Clemson Tigers have to end that current trend if they are to make a serious run as one of the top four teams in the ACC Tournament next month. That task starts Saturday at noon in Chestnut Hill, Mass., against Boston College.

“We are going to have to win a road game,” he said.

Clemson (12-8, 4-4 ACC) has come close a couple of times this year. At NC State, the Tigers fought off a slow start only to tie the game with two minutes to go, but a couple bad possessions on offense and a breakdown on defense prevented them from pulling off the upset against the No. 19 Wolfpack.

A few days later, Clemson was in Tallahassee and had leads of 12, 11 and 10 points during the second half, only to see too many fouls and Florida State free throws allow the Seminoles to crawl back in the game and then win it with a desperation three-pointer by Michael Snaer as time expired.

“We have played reasonably well on the road,” Brownell said. “Obviously at NC State and at Florida State we had great chances to win and hopefully we can play as well at BC and find a way in the last two minutes to put on a little bit better showing.”

Point guard Rod Hall says the Tigers, who are 2-4 in true road games this year, have to come out sharp.

“We kind of start out slow when we are on the road, but at home the crowd helps us get into the game,” the sophomore said. “We need to stick together and have the same mindset that we have here at home.

“Every time we have had a road game we have come out sluggish and have dug a hole and have come back fighting, so that’s been the toughest thing we have had to deal with this season.”

Brownell says the reason it is so tough to win an ACC road game is simple. Home teams just play better when they are at home.

“It’s not that the teams on the road are playing bad, but teams at home are playing better,” he said. “Guys are comfortable. I think they shoot better. The momentum of the positive play is reinforced by the crowd. That leads to another basket or two.

“Sometimes, you have to be 10 points better on the road to win.”

So the key for Clemson against the Eagles is to play like Saturday’s game is at Littlejohn, where it is coming off back-to-back victories over Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. The Tigers are 4-1 in ACC games at Littlejohn and 0-3 in conference road games.

“There are a lot of factors as to why that is the case,” Brownell said. “I really just think it is as simple as the momentum. The momentum at home makes you play better and I think it takes a very disciplined group to be able to put all the distractions away and be focused enough to get between the lines.”

Clemson has proven it can bounce back in road games when adversity strikes, but what it has not proven is that it can do enough to get over the top and bring a win back to Clemson.

“When the negative things happen, like they do in a lot of these games, you have to be able to bounce back from that,” Brownell said.