The Clemson Tigers were just a bucket away from a back-to-back win and a big one at that to snap Virginia’s five-game winning streak.

After a missed free throw by the Cavaliers with seven seconds left, Chase Hunter charged down the floor down one point and drew a double before dishing to Jack Clark. PJ Hall described him as “butt naked” in that spot and his shot barely missed off the back iron as Clemson fell to 4-6 in the ACC in heartbreaking fashion.

Clark doesn’t seem like the likely shooter in that moment, but he was open and Brad Brownell is content with that. He didn’t want to draw up too much in the timeout before, and let the game play out given how well his team was playing.

”We didn’t do a lot of specific stuff. We basically were trying to get the court spread, get the ball in Chase’s hands. Depending on where PJ was, he could either go to the rim and be around the rim for a quick post up,” Brownell said. “Jack had a chance probably when he caught the ball if he wanted to…he might’ve been able to hit (PJ Hall) in the middle of the lane. That’s not easy for a kid. If there had been two more seconds…he catches it with two and a half so a little less to do that.”

That was Brownell’s philosophy in the moment and it was rightfully so. The Tigers had just four turnovers on the day, and were executing well up until the shots didn’t fall.

While it’s hard to live with, Clemson got a great look and Brownell doesn’t plan to overthink it after that.

“If I think they slow us down and we don’t have any thrust, then I’ll probably call timeout but if there’s open court, you’ve been good all day,” Brownell said. “We’re going to let you ride and see what you do. He kind of drew Ryan Dunn to him…he flipped it to Jack for the shot.”