Clemson basketball: Beating up on Wake Forest is a good sign for Tigers

Clemson basketball beating up on Wake Forest is a good sign moving forward

Following a 12-day layoff, there were plenty of questions surrounding the Clemson basketball program and what the Tigers would look like when they were back in action.

The last time we saw Clemson basketball suffer a long layoff- back in January- they went on a terrible three-game losing streak and just looked plain bad in the losses. Clemson lost its first three games back off that layoff by a combined 72 points, including a 35-point loss to one of the ACC’s top teams in Virginia.

Clemson finally got back on the winning side of things and the Tigers were boasting a three-game winning streak before this hiatus struck them.

So, questions absolutely abounded when the Tigers took the floor in Winston-Salem Wednesday afternoon, even if it was against a bad Wake Forest team (6-12 overall, 3-12 in the ACC).

It didn’t take long for Clemson basketball fans to see that this time was different than the last

The Tigers came out a little flat offensively and had trouble getting their three-point shots to fall, but they played motivated defense and got their legs underneath them.

Brad Brownell played a plethora of bench players early to keep his team rested and the overall result saw Clemson come away with an impressive 60-39 win over Wake Forest. Alex Hemenway scored a career-high 17 points and Aamir Simms added 13 for the Tigers as they improved to 14-5 overall and 8-5 in ACC play.

While it might not seem like much to beat a bad Wake Forest team-  and yes, they’re bad- it does a lot more for this team’s confidence going forward.

No one really expected the Tigers to lose this one, but the way the defense played and how they got better as the game went on should be an encouragement for them as they move towards the end of the regular season.

Clemson is currently fifth in the ACC standings and the Tigers are set up to have a favorable seed in the NCAA Tournament if they can win their final few games, all of which they should be favored.

It will be interesting to see what this team accomplishes in the final week of the regular season and when the postseason gets underway, but picking up that win- in dominating fashion, we might add- off the break is the first step in getting back to playing at a high level.