The Clemson Tigers made progress towards their hopes for seeding in the ACC Tournament following their 80-75 win against Louisville on Saturday. With the win, the Tigers improved to 21-8 on the season, and 11-5 in the ACC standings with two regular season games remaining. After the win, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell spoke about the one elite quality that helped the Tigers defeat Louisville, as per Griffin Barfield of Sports Illustrated.
For Brad Brownell, it was Clemson’s elite defense that helped power them over the Cardinals, and he acknowledged the role the time off helped prepare the team. Clemson had not played since Feb. 21, giving them a week off before their game against Louisville.
In the win, Clemson was led by Jestin Porter’s 16 points. RJ Godfrey added 13 points and Ace Bucker had 11 points off the bench. Godfrey has been the Tigers’ leading scorer this season at 11.5 points per game while shooting 62.6 percent from the field.
When it comes to defense, Clemson is actually in the top half of teams in the nation in defensive rating at 99.3, as per Sports Reference. That’s good enough for 40th out of 365 Division 1 college basketball teams.
This is Brownell’s 16th season at the helm as head coach of Clemson. He’s compiled an overall record of 313-204 during that time period. He’s lead the Tigers to five NCAA Tournament appearances, including two Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight appearance as recently as the 2023-24 season. The program also has three NIT appearances under his leadership.
Clemson’s next game is against No. 18 North Carolina on the road, before finishing the regular season at home against Georgia Tech.
