CLEMSON – Clemson basketball’s practice gym was unusually quiet Thursday.

In place of drills, walk-throughs, and game prep, the Tigers took a day off of the floor, focusing on film and recovery the day after a third-consecutive loss at Wake Forest on Wednesday.

“I thought we just maybe haven’t had great juice and so Thursday we didn’t even go on the floor,” head coach Brad Brownell said after another 70-65 loss to Florida State at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday.

“We obviously watched film and tried to learn from the Wake mistakes and then obviously introduced Florida State, but normally we would do more walkthroughs and all that kind of stuff. We just chose to get our guys out of the gym and try to have energy and I thought we did.”

After losing three consecutive games for the first time since January of 2023, Brownell knew something had to change in the Tigers’ (20-8, 10-5 ACC) routine after falling twice in a two-game stint on the road. Veteran guard Dillon Hunter along with R.J. Godfrey, who were two of Clemson’s top three scorers Saturday, agreed with their coach.

“Dillon’s been good, especially since the Duke game,” Brownell said. “He and I met for an hour after the Duke game in my office as soon as we got off the bus. And I know he met with (assistant) Coach Donlan, after Wake and he’s really been trying, he and R.J. (Godfrey) to just keep the spirit of morale for our team in a good place.”

The change in practice schedule came as an attempt to increase morale and energy. According to Brownell, taking a day off from full practice is uncommon, but provided the Tigers with an extra boost in the first half against Florida State, in which Clemson’s defense allowed only 33 points. 

The defense slipped slightly in the second period, and the Tigers shot only 21 percent from beyond-the-arc, ultimately resulting in the first loss to Florida State in six years.

For a team that started 20-4 and 10-1 in ACC play, the four-game skid comes as a drastic shift from early dominance. While Clemson has not lost four consecutive games or two in a row at Littlejohn Coliseum since 2022, success in more recent years has not come without slip-ups.

Before the Tigers’ run to the Elite Eight Round of the NCAA Tournament in 2024, Clemson finished 3-5 in the month of January, dropping three of those losses in a row by a combined 38-point margin. 

Still, Godfrey, Hunter, and the Tigers went on to a 6-2 record in the month of February and a 24-12 finish.

“My sophomore year, the Elite Eight team, we had a lot of adversity that season, and people don’t talk about the times we had that when we were losing that season,” Hunter said after a 13-point performance against the Seminoles. “Just showing (the younger guys) like, man, you’re going to have ups and downs, you just got to stay level through everything and it’s part of life.”

Adversity is nothing new for Hunter, who missed an NCAA Tournament last season due to an injury and was the lone returner this season that got meaningful playing time last year. After five consecutive games with less than two field goals this February, he sparked the Tigers offensively against the Seminoles, finishing with three assists and three rebounds in addition to 5-of-9 shooting.

Energy was not a problem for Hunter.

Adversity is nothing new for Brownell, Hunter, and the Tigers, and the slate will not get any easier after the fourth loss. The Tigers have a week off before hosting Louisville (19-7, 8-5 ACC) at Littlejohn Coliseum next Saturday. 

Brownell did not indicate whether the Tigers would take more days to regroup off the court, but the Tigers will need to find a spark to pick up an elusive 21st win.