GREENVILLE — Clemson basketball Coach Brad Brownell has said it all year. If his Tigers play well and play at a high level, they can beat just about anyone. The caveat – the other team can’t play as well.

That’s what happened in Monday’s 89-83 loss to Notre Dame at the Bon Secours Wellness Center in Greenville. Though Clemson scored 54-second half points and connected on 53-percent of its shots, the Irish played just as well. They made 51-percent of their 57 shots and were 10 of 22 from behind the three-point line, while tallying 54-second half points as well.

It was just one of those nights when the Tigers (14-10, 7-5 ACC) simply lost to the better team.

“They have to help you sometimes, and when they don’t ever turn the ball over and they don’t miss open shots, they’re not helping you. That’s why it is hard to beat them because they don’t help you,” Brownell said afterwards. “They don’t give you baskets so you have to make more plays than them in a game, and it is hard to do that when they are playing well.”

Notre Dame (17-7, 8-4 ACC) had five players score in double digits, led by Zach Auguste’s 19 points and Demetrius Jackson’s 17. V.J. Beachem also added 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, while Steve Vasturia had 10 points and Bonzie Colson dropped in 11.

Twice the Irish built leads of nine points in the first half and then again in the second half. They also went on a run in the last 20 minutes that allowed them to build leads of 11 and 13 points. But in each case, the Tigers, who never led, rallied to come within a basket of tying the game or taking the lead. But in each case, Notre Dame made a basket or play to keep itself separated just enough from the Tigers.

“They are really a good offensive team. They have a couple of guys that score the ball in many different ways and they shoot the ball well from three,” Clemson forward Jaron Blossomgame said. “Every time we would get close they end up getting a good offensive look from three or they would get an offensive rebound and put it back in. That was really the story of the game.”

Blossomgame did his part to keep Clemson close. The junior scored a career-high 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting. He was also 2 of 3 from behind the three-point line and had six rebounds. His 30 points marked the sixth time in the last seven games he scored at least 20 points.

“It’s all great, but we could not come away with a win so it doesn’t matter,” Blossomgame said.

Besides Notre Dame’s offensive efficiency, it also appeared the Tigers could not catch a break in the game when it came to fouls, loose balls, 50-50 balls or lucky bounces. The Irish made several baskets when the ball went in and out of the cylinder, only to fall or bounce back in the hoop.

“It was just one of those games where you are fighting from behind and it seems like every call is going against you when it is not. Some of them were the right calls,” Brownell said. “When you let all those things bother you and you can’t get past those things, it does not do you any good. You have to get past that and you have to play your way through it.

“Tonight, we just did not have it. We did not have it inside our belly to figure out a way to play through it.”

Clemson has to figure a way to play through its current losing skid as well. The Tigers have now lost three of their last four games, and Monday’s defeat was their first at home in ACC play. Last year, a similar loss to the Irish led to a late-season slide which knocked them out of post-season consideration.

Blossomgame does not see that happening this year.

“This is a new year. This is a new team. There are guys that emerged as leaders and we cannot let that happen,” he said. “We are a really good team. We had a really good January. We have to win some more games this month. We have a really good chance to win our next six games.”

Those final six games begin on Saturday when the Tigers host Georgia Tech in Greenville for a 2 p.m. tipoff. After that they host Boston College on Feb. 17 before traveling to NC State on Feb. 20 and Georgia Tech on Feb. 23 before coming home host Virginia on March 1 in the regular season home finale. They then close the season at BC on March 5.

If you haven’t already order your copy today of Guts & Glory – Tales of Clemson’s Historic 2015 Football Season to help you celebrate and remember this special season.