By Will Vandervort

Though the Clemson basketball team welcomed its five-day break from the battles inside the Atlantic Coast Conference, it also wishes it could have played a game in between the heartbreaking loss to third-ranked Miami on Sunday and Saturday’s noon tipoff at Maryland.

The Tigers (13-12, 5-8) have played a lot of games over the last several weeks and the rigors of playing in the ACC takes its toll on a team both mentally and physically. Clemson head coach Brad Brownell gave his team Monday off to kind of get their legs back under them, and then had individual workouts on Tuesday before going hard in practice the last two days.

“We have played a lot of games so it was nice,” Brownell said Friday. “Individuals are little bit different because you don’t have anybody around. It’ more personal time with a coach which I think can be good, getting individual time with a kid working on his game. That’s probably a positive.

“In the long run, it was probably good to have one game this week.”

But the negative has been living with the Miami loss longer than they would like. Saturday’s Maryland game will be the third time this season Clemson will try to bounce back following a last-second defeat.

In each of those cases, the Tigers came back to earn a victory in the very next game. After losing to Florida State on a three-pointer as time expired on Jan. 24, Clemson bounced back to beat Virginia Tech 77-70 the next time out.

Following NC State’s last-second win at Littlejohn on Feb. 10, the Tigers rallied to beat Georgia Tech, 56-53, on Valentine’s Day. But in each of those games, Clemson waited no longer than three days before it played again, which helped take the sting out of such disappointing defeats.

It will be five days in between games for Clemson when it tips off Saturday against Maryland at the Comcast Center.

“You haven’t played again, obviously, to think about the next (game),” Brownell said. “But that is probably okay in this instance. Certainly, as I mentioned, this was a hard one to get over. We have had a couple of these to be honest with you that have been really difficult this year and it test you. No question. I’m anxious to see how we respond.

“We will be in an extremely hostile environment. One where, because of the way the other team plays and the strength they get from that environment, you really have to play well to overcome all the extra emotion.”

In other words, the Tigers can’t afford to let one loss beat them twice.

“The last couple of days have been rough because we have been thinking about the previous game,” point guard Rod Hall said. “But we have to forget about that and focus on the next game.”

Sometimes, that can be easier said than done.

“We had a game in our hands, and at the end of the game we had a loss,” Hall said. “You try to figure out what you did wrong and what you could have done better at the end to change everything and win the game.

“We always lose these games by one or two possessions. That might seem like that doesn’t matter, but at the end of the day they do matter and we have to pay attention to more detail.”