On Sunday evening, Clemson fell 82-81 in a close battle with Virginia Tech. The Tigers are now 11-8 and have lost six-straight ACC matchups. Forward Donte Grantham and head coach Brad Brownell addressed the media following the loss.

Here is what we heard:

While Clemson was able to shoot at 48.4 percent from the floor, the defense was not able to hold off the Hokies from sealing their fourth ACC victory.

“I thought our team played really well offensively again. We have done that here at home quite a bit, 81 points, shot a great percentage, 22 assists, made 13 threes, only had nine turnovers, just about everything you would want offensively,” Brownell said. “Defensively, we are just not getting enough stops. Some of that credit goes to Virginia Tech.”

Brownell credited Virginia Tech for a tough game and said Clemson is now facing a challenging schedule full of difficult opponents.

“Some of it is the quality of opponent now. We are playing NCAA Tournament teams almost every game now. That’s hard. They’ve got guys on their team that are big shot-makers,” Brownell said.

Part of the reason Virginia Tech had success on the court came from the Hokies going 16-17 on the night from the free throw line.

“They went up to the line and made of all of them. They were 6-6 in the last minute of the game. They not only hit the first one, they hit the second one, so I give them credit for finishing the game and making their shots.”

Brownell also said his team is fatigued and a little banged up. Losing six-straight conference games has worn the Tigers down, and the team is in need of a victory.

“I really believe our players’ want to has got to get all the way there. It is close, but there is a little bit of frustration and a little bit of fatigue,” Brownell said. “We’re not quite where we need to be both mentally and physically. Losing is probably taking a little bit of a toll here the last couple of weeks. It has been hard especially with the way it has been happening. Most of the games have been gut-wrenching.”

Grantham addressed the current attitude of the team, stating he and his fellow teammates know that they will need to play harder through the remaining conference games to try to get a win.

“We’re just trying to figure out what we can do better, be better as a team and pull out a tough win,” Grantham said. “We just have to toughen up and pull a win out.”

Brownell has full faith in the talent of his team, but said it is up to them to turn the losing streak around.

“We’re going to turn it around when my guys want it turned around. We are talented enough to turn it around,” Brownell said.

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