TAMPA, Fla. – Clemson and Iowa are very similar teams.

They both play a slow-paced offense, where it melts the shot clock before finding the best option available to score.

They both play a brand of defense that wears down their opponent and forces turnovers to set up its offense.

The only difference between the two squads is that the Hawkeyes had a player who was capable of scoring 30 points and taking over a basketball game. That guy was senior guard Bennett Stirtz, who led Iowa with 16 points in a 67-61 victory Friday in the first round of the South Regional of the NCAA Tournament at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa.

Clemson (24-11) did not have a Bennett Stirtz, which forced the Tigers to concentrate on him defensively, allowing Kael Combs (15 points) and Alvaro Folgueiras (14 points) to have career nights.

“You’re always trying to do that and you’re trying to develop players that – maybe is an elite offensive guy,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said after the game. “There aren’t as many of those people as you think. Iowa has one, so there was really only one guy on the floor that was probably separating himself from others.”

The Tigers have had those types of players before. Obviously, PJ Hall was an elite scorer for them on their run to an Elite 8 appearance in 2024. Chase Hunter could be described as an elite scorer in the college game when he helped Clemson win a school record 27 games last year.

However, this year, the Tigers did not have a go-to-guy like Stirtz, who scored 30 or more points three times this season and was one of only three players in the Big Ten to score 20-plus points 18 times this season.

He is the reason why the Hawkeyes (22-12) are moving onto the second round to play top-seeded Florida and Clemson is headed back to Clemson.

“It takes pressure off your team when there’s a guy that you can rely on to either go score, go get fouled or create a double-team, and it just makes life for the other players easier,” Brownell said. “So yes, we’ve had those guys in the past. Love to have one in the future.

“This year’s team, maybe we just weren’t quite wired that way. But again, I give a lot of credit to our staff and to our players for finding different ways to win this year.”

Despite not having an elite scorer, the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year — the third time that has happened in the program’s history. They finished tied for fourth in the ACC standings. Won two games in the ACC Tournament for just the third time in school history and advanced to the ACC Tournament semifinal round for a second straight year – a first for the program.

Now imagine if they had a Bennett Stirtz what they could have done.