By Will Vandervort.
It was easy for Clemson head coach Brad Brownell to describe Saturday’s 74-50 loss to 19th-ranked North Carolina.
“We struggled,” he said afterwards.
The Tigers did struggle, especially in the opening half when they shot just 17.9 percent from the field and scored 17 points.
“Obviously, our offense was a problem. They guarded the ball screen very well. We did not make any shots early and they just put so much pressure on us as a team,” Brownell said. “They had shot blockers around the rim and they are a factor.
“We had trouble getting the ball inside and I thought they did a great job pressuring some passers and getting some deflections early and keeping the ball out of the post when you are trying to find Landry (Nnoko). We did better in the second half and we ran some more motion and got away from some ball screening at times just to get more movement, but by that point it was just too late.”
It was too late. The Tar Heels (11-3, 1-0 ACC) rallied from a slow start to build a 39-17 lead at the break behind a couple of Marcus Paige three-pointers and nine first-half points from Kennedy Meeks.
Clemson (8-5, 0-1) trailed by just four points, 11-7, nearly midway through the first half, but North Carolina found its groove and went on a 16-3 run to stretch the lead 17 points. The Tigers could not answer it as they struggled to find the basket and made just 5 of 28 shots in the opening 20 minutes, including just 2 of 14 shots from three-point range.
“We were getting good looks, but we just could not knock them down,” Clemson forward Jaron Blossomgame said. “Then on the defensive side we gave up a lot of dunks and layups and that got them going.
“It just got out of hand early.”
Blossomgame did his best in the second half to bring the Tigers back. After going 0-for-3 from the field in the first half, he connected on four of eight shots in the second and scored all 13 of his points. Demarcus Harrison scored 11 points for Clemson.
North Carolina led by as many as 30 points in the second half following a Justin Jackson layup with 9:46 to play. That gave UNC a 60-30 lead at the time. From that point on, the Tigers outscored North Carolina 20-14, but the damage was done.
The Tar Heels out rebounded Clemson 27-13 on the boards in the second half, including a 12-3 advantage on the offensive glass.
“We have to be tougher,” Blossomgame said. “They controlled the glass in the second half. Guys have to be tougher. Things have to change in this program in order for us to start winning these kinds of games.”
It doesn’t getting any easier from here. Clemson will be at No.5 Louisville on Wednesday and then travel to Pitt next Saturday, before heading to Charlottesville, Va., on two days rest, to play No. 3 Virginia on Jan. 13. The Tigers then return home to play Syracuse on Jan. 17.
“We have to try and put this behind us,” Blossomgame said. “It is a long season. This four-game stretch coming up is not going to define our season or define us as a team. We have to come together as a team and try to figure it out.”