By Will Vandervort

It has been a frustrating February to say the least for the Clemson basketball team. The Tigers, who are 1-5 this month, have a chance to end some of that frustration tonight when they host North Carolina (7:02 p.m.) at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Starting on Feb. 2, Clemson has lost road games to Boston College, Virginia and Maryland, while losing heartbreaking games at home to NC State and Miami.

“It’s very frustrating, but we just have to stay positive and learn from it,” freshman guard Jordan Roper said. “That’s the only positive way to look at it. We have a lot of close losses, and we have been playing well. It’s definitely frustrating.”

The Tigers (13-13, 5-9 ACC) have lost their last two home games by a combined three points to NC State and Miami, which has only added to their frustrations.

“We played pretty well against NC State and Miami and probably should have won both games and did not do that,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “There is good play there. Like a lot of teams, we play in spurts, sometimes better than others. The problem is we have longer droughts than you can have and be successful.”

Clemson cannot afford long scoring droughts tonight against the Tar Heels. North Carolina (19-8, 9-5) has won three straight games where it is averaging 79.6 points per game. In that same span Clemson, which ranks last in the ACC in scoring, has not even hit 60 points in a single game and has not scored more than 60 since scoring 68 against Boston College.

In the last three games, the Tigers have averaged only 52.6 points per outing.

“We do not have a lot to show,” Brownell said. “But some play has been okay and some has been pretty good to be honest with you.”

It will have to be all good tonight. Playing with a smaller lineup, Marcus Paige and Dexter Strickland have really added to the North Carolina lineup since becoming full-time starters in a 93-81 win over Virginia on Feb. 16.

The two guards, who are more traditional point guards than anything else, have allowed UNC’s transition game to take off, which has opened up more scoring opportunities for P.J. Hairston (13.3 points per game), Reggie Bullock (14.1) and James Michael McAdoo (14.7).

“The ball is coming at you unbelievably fast,” Brownell said. “They are as good as anybody I have seen this year at finishing in transition.”

Paige’s and Strickland’s insertion has also resulted in more three-pointers for North Carolina. The Tar Heels have made 30 three-pointers during their three-game winning streak.

“We have been doing a lot of drills where we will play defense, go convert and then convert back,” Roper said. “The scout team has not been worried about getting the rebound; we just have guys in the side throwing the ball, forcing us to get back in transition defense very fast.

“We are going to have to get back. They are a fast team and play fast ball.”

But the goal tonight for the Tigers will be to try and force North Carolina to play their style of basketball and their tempo, and they hope, make someone else frustrated for a change.