The Clemson basketball team is heading to the Elite Eight for the first time in 44 years. The 6-seed Tigers upset the 2-seed Arizona Wildcats on Thursday in a 77-72 victory to advance and stay alive in March Madness.
After the game, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell had plenty to say, and he's enjoying every second of this ride (h/t CBS Sports).
“I certainly have a lot of belief in my team. We're playing good basketball right now…Anything can happen in these tournaments. You've gotta have really good players and I have really good players…We have a lot of confidence in our team. We've been through a lot together.”
"Anything can happen in these tournaments. You've gotta have really good players and I have really good players."
—@ClemsonMBB's Brad Brownell pic.twitter.com/NAohtgbYeZ
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 29, 2024
The Clemson basketball team is playing really well and held off Arizona from start to finish on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The Tigers had a 39-31 lead at halftime and were able to sustain Arizona runs time and time again. Chase Hunter led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds while PJ Hall had 17 and eight boards and Ian Schieffelin added 14 points with seven rebounds.
Clemson's late-season struggles are over
The Clemson basketball team lost three of four going into March Madness, including a brutal 21-point loss to Boston College in the ACC Tournament. The Tigers also lost to Notre Dame and Wake Forest in March before ACC Tournament play, and questions remained with them having to face New Mexico and Baylor before getting to the Sweet 16.
Still, despite all of that, the Tigers have turned it on when it matters most. After the game, the Clemson basketball head coach admitted how happy they are just to keep on playing together.
“Today was our day. We made enough plays to win. I'm just super happy that these guys are gonna get a chance to continue to play and we get to spend more time together.”
"Today was our day. We made enough plays to win. I'm just super happy that these guys are gonna get a chance to continue to play and we get to spend more time together."
—@ClemsonMBB head coach Brad Brownell pic.twitter.com/IQuaGbp8vJ
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 29, 2024
The Clemson basketball team began the season with an 11-1 record before losing three in a row and four of five. However, they went 6-2 in February before a brutal start to March, so nobody knew exactly which version of this team would show up.
Yet, here we are, with Clemson heading to the Elite Eight and facing the winner of North Carolina and Alabama in a potential ACC Elite Eight showdown.
Since Brownell became the head coach at Clemson, he has a 264–188 record overall and has taken them to four NCAA Tournament trips, with the last one coming in 2021. However, the last time Clemson made the Elite Eight was in 1980 when they lost to UCLA, falling short of a trip to the Final Four.
If Brownell can deliver a Final Foir run to Clemson, a pay raise or lifetime contract could be in the works. The Clemson basketball team lives another day in March Madness.
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