Clemson basketball: Spotlight too bright in NCAA Tournament loss to Rutgers

Spotlight too bright for Clemson basketball in the NCAA Tournament loss to Rutgers

The Clemson basketball team was able to sit down for a cup of coffee and then was on its merry way in the NCAA Tournament.

The Tigers had the opportunity to go dancing- which is a great accomplishment- but they’ll have to put up those dancing shoes far more early than they should have following a disappointing 60-56 loss to 10-seeded Rutgers on Friday night.

Many were calling Clemson basketball ‘a fraud’ coming into the tournament and we saw numerous analysts picking the Scarlet Knights over the Tigers. In the end, when it came time for the game to be played, one thing reigned true over everything else: The spotlight was too bright for Clemson basketball.

Clemson basketball played timid, especially as the game got tighter down the stretch

Everyone expected both teams to come out a little amped up with butterflies. That’s normal for the NCAA Tournament.

However, it just seemed like the Tigers never were able to relax, at least not on offense.

Only able to muster up 56 points, Clemson shot an abysmal 35.6 percent from the field and got outrebounded by nearly double-figures . That absolutely can’t happen in a low-possession game like the one we saw Friday evening.

If you’re not going to shoot at a high clip, you can’t allow your opponent second-chance opportunities and you’ve got to capitalize when you get those offensive rebounds. The Tigers did neither.

What might’ve been most disappointing, though, was the way the game ended.

As we progressed down the stretch, there were too instances where Clemson past on an open shot for a contested jumper. Instead of attacking the basket or trying to feed it down low to Aamir Simms, the Tigers put up bad shots and they didn’t fall.

When Simms finally did get the ball basically on the final offensive possession, he traveled.

The overall takeaway from this game is that this team let the spotlight shine too bright. They weren’t confident in their shots down the stretch and it showed. They weren’t playing to win, they were playing not to lose. There’s a difference.

Say what you want to about the season as a whole- there have only been 13 Clemson basketball teams in history make it to the dance- but Friday night’s performance was disappointing.

The effort and desire were there. The execution and confidence? Not so much.