The road to the NCAAs starts in November
By: rmacrae@bellsouth.net October 29, 2014

By Will Vandervort.

If there was one thing that kept Clemson out of the NCAA Tournament last year it was three losses to Massachusetts, Auburn and Arkansas during the non-conference stretch of their schedule.

“We just can’t lose games like that this year,” Clemson point guard Rod Hall said during Operation ACC Basketball on Wednesday from the Westin in Charlotte, N.C.

It’s not that those were exactly bad losses, but victories in those three contests, especially against two SEC teams could have greatly helped the Tigers’ fortunes when it came to postseason consideration. Instead, despite 20 wins, including 11 that came against ACC foes, Clemson was left out of the Field of 68 and played in the NIT.

“We are not going to take any game for granted,” Hall said. “We are going to come out every game and play our best and just try to focus on us being a good team. We are not going to try and fast forward to January and ACC play. We have to take care of every game.”

This year’s non-conference schedule consist, of course, of the Tigers’ annual contest against rival South Carolina in Columbia on Dec. 19, but also games against SEC opponents Arkansas (Dec. 7) and Auburn (Dec. 14) as well as Rutgers (Dec. 1) in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.

Clemson will also play in the Paradise Jam Tournament at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands on Nov. 21-24.

“We can’t afford to have those losses that we had last year,” Clemson center Landry Nnoko said. “It’s not like losing to Auburn and Arkansas was bad, but we have to compete better in out of conference play to put us in good position, so it does not decide the outcome of our season.”

The Tigers were 9-3 in their non-conference games last season, not counting their NIT run to the final four last March.

“It built up a lot of the returning players’ confidence,” Hall said. “Like Landry and Demarcus (Harrison) did real well and made a lot of shots. It is pushing everybody to do better and believe in themselves more.”

Clemson will open the season against Florida A&M on Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in Littlejohn Coliseum. It will be the beginning of the last season at Littlejohn and what better way to send it off than by its Tigers earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“We have to take care of business early. We can’t take anyone for granted,” Hall said. “We have to play every game like it is the last one. If we do our best, I think we will make the NCAA Tournament.”