GREENVILLE — When things are going well, excitement is at a fever pitch. When things aren’t going so well, the bottom is about to fall out.

Clemson experienced both ends of the emotional spectrum in Friday night’s 65-59 loss to South Carolina. Afterwards, Brad Brownell told reporters that finding the happy-medium is crucial.

“My team right now is a little too emotional,” he said. “We’re not as steady. We come a little unnerved too quickly.

“Our highs are high and our lows are low, and good teams don’t do that. They’re more even-keeled. They’re going to get up when things go good, but when things don’t go well, they’re not going to be as low. Our guys are just a little bit too emotional that way.”

The bottom fell out in the first half, when South Carolina used a 22-4 run to build a 20-point lead.

Stretches similar to that have occurred far too often during Clemson’s first 11 games this season.

“It’s problematic in our play,” Brownell said. “We lose our confidence quickly. By the time we get it back, we’ve given the other team 10 or 12 points, most of the time.”

The first half was salvaged by a relatively strong close.

“The last four minutes of the first half were important,” Brownell said. “Our guys played better, got our wits about us again and played well the last four minutes, so we went into halftime fine and regrouped.”

The lead was cut to four, but shots stopped falling over the final four minutes in the second half.

A lesser lull in the first half wouldn’t have left them in such dire straits during closing time.

Donte Grantham, who scored 16 points, agreed with Brownell’s assessment.

“When we’re high, we’re hitting shots, we’re an amazing team,” Grantham said, “But when we’re low, we’re low. I think, as a team, we have to know how to battle adversity better and stay at a consistent level.

“Things are going to go good and things are going to go bad. Tonight, it showed.”