By Will Vandervort.

Boston College head coach Jim Christian went into his team’s locker room following Saturday’s 64-49 loss to Clemson and told his squad if they believe enough in what they are doing like Clemson does then they can win a lot of games.

“I thought they played unbelievably well,” Christian said. “Brad (Brownell) has done a phenomenal job here because those guys buy in so much to what they do, they believe so much in what they do. Even when the offense falters they don’t take possessions off and they make it difficult for you. They deserved it.

“The only thing we learned today was that if you have that kind of belief in your system you can win games based on effort. They obviously made a lot of good plays, but effort won them the game today.”

Effort has won the Tigers (13-8, 5-4 ACC) three straight games and four of the last five. Clemson, who ranks in the bottom half of the ACC in shooting percentage and scoring, has found ways to win by outrebounding its opponents, outhustling them and playing hard-nose defense.

“We’ve been in those situations before; you have to raise your level,” Christian said. “They come in and play at a certain level. Both teams come in and feel each other out and you raise your level. We didn’t raise our level today. We just hung our head. It’s the first time that’s happened all year with us.”

Clemson has definitely raised its level of play. After going on the road and dominating NC State this past Wednesday, they followed it up with another dominating performance against Christians’ Eagles at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Though the Tigers made just 39.3 percent of their shots, they outrebounded the Eagles 37-27, including a 13-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Clemson also made 13 of 14 free throws.

Defensively, the Tigers held Boston College to a season-low 49 points, while holding them to 39 percent shooting, including a season-low 26.1 percent in the first half. BC scored just 16 points in the opening 20 minutes and finished the game with 13 turnovers.

“We have pieced together a few wins and we are just playing with confidence right now and we want to keep it rolling,” Roper said. “We are talking a lot on the floor and we are playing with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, which is what coach wants.”

Few imagined Clemson would be 5-4 at the halfway point of the ACC season, especially after the way things went in the opener against North Carolina and then the 1-3 start to the conference season. But here they are at the midway point with post-season aspirations as a definite possibility.

“It feels good, but there is still a long way to go in this league,” Brownell said. “We take it week by week and see what we have to do and what’s ahead and how we need to prepare.

“I’m pleased with how the guys have responded. I thought in some of the losses back there that we lost when we were 1-3 we still showed good signs of basketball. We were playing well and competing but some of those teams are just so good. If they get going they can be tough. Really, the North Carolina game is the one that we did not play well at all. I thought we played well for a half against Virginia, but in the second half things got away from us. But beyond that, we have played pretty good basketball at different times. We have had to find different ways to win.”

And now the Tigers hope a little more effort will keep them rolling.

Clemson will play at Florida State on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m.