On Wednesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum, Syracuse defeated Clemson, 82-81, on a last-second three-point shot by Tyus Battle.

Syracuse handed Clemson its ninth loss in ACC play this season and the Tigers now have an overall record of 13-11 and 3-9 in the ACC.

Here is what we heard:

“Offensively I thought we played about as well as you can play. Shot fifty-four percent, nineteen assists, only six turnovers. Just played at a really high level, got the ball to a lot of good places. Five guys in double figures that’s why it’s so painful,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said afterwards.

“We had a mix-up in the last play. I don’t know if it was the scorer’s table or my staff made a mistake, but obviously it’s my responsibility. We thought (Tyler) Roberson was still in the game for them and he’s their best offensive rebounder so we had Sidy (Djitte) in there to make sure he didn’t tip one in. Then we look out and he’s not in the game and we’re in trouble because he isn’t used to guarding perimeter players that often. He leaves a shooter and we lose on a last-second shot.”

When asked how Brownell is going to keep his team’s confidence level up the rest of the season he responded.

“It’s hard because you just mentally and emotionally invested so much in this one. We just have to bounce back. It doesn’t go away. The only way you make it better is you just have to find a way. This one hurt, obviously a lot because we played well too,” Brownell said.

Clemson forward, Donte Grantham hit a jump shot with six seconds left to play putting the Tigers up 81-79. Syracuse moved the ball down the court where Battle sunk the game-winning three point shot right as the clock expired.

“Marcquise (Reed) just found me in the middle and I just made a tough shot. If I didn’t have the shot I was going to dump in down to (Jaron Blossomgame) so the plan was to get the ball down to the middle,” Grantham said after the game.

“Coach Brownell just wanted us to pepper the ball around. Me play the high post and JB play low so we just wanted to pepper the ball around to get the last shot, but obviously the shot clock and our clock wasn’t the same,” Grantham said.

Grantham then continued by saying the Tigers have to start figuring out ways to win these types of games.

“It’s very frustrating. Even from the start of the ACC with North Carolina, Virginia, and Virginia Tech we just have to get tough. We’ve got to find some way to grit out these tough close games in the last couple of minutes. We’ll just go back and look at the film and try to correct the things we’re doing wrong and be better as a team,” he said.

The Tigers will travel to Durham, North Carolina this Saturday to take on the Duke Blue Devils at 1 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Above photo: Syracuse Orange guard Tyus Battle (25) drives to the basket while being defended by Clemson Tigers guard Avry Holmes (12) during the first half as Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday. (photo by Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports)