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Clemson Men’s Basketball loses in ACC semifinals, now awaits NCAA Committee’s decision

By John Chancey

Mar 10, 2023; Greensboro, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers center Francisco Caffaro (22) shoots as Clemson Tigers center PJ Hall (24) defends in the second half during the semifinals of the ACC Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 10, 2023; Greensboro, NC, USA; Virginia Cavaliers center Francisco Caffaro (22) shoots as Clemson Tigers center PJ Hall (24) defends in the second half during the semifinals of the ACC Tournament at Greensboro Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Clemson Men’s Basketball was defeated by the Virginia Cavaliers 76-56 in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday evening.

Hunter Tyson led the way for the Tigers with 15 points and six rebounds. PJ Hall contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds. Brevin Galloway had 12 points.

Whereas the Clemson bench came up big for the Tigers in their 80-54 stomping of NC State, they came up small against the Cavaliers. The bench only scored seven points total.

The Tigers will now have to wait until Sunday to find out if they will be included in the NCAA Tournament field.

Joe Lunardi of ESPN has the Tigers in the “played their way out” category. He has them as the third team out of the field, behind Oklahoma State and Nevada.

Lunardi has NC State, who Clemson defeated three times this season, in the tournament as a team likely to play in the First Four in Dayton.

Lunardi’s reasoning that Clemson will not be included is that they played a weak non-conference schedule.

Per Teamrankings.com, Clemson played the 104th non-conference schedule in Division I this season, the 10th most difficult in the conference.

Jerry Palm of CBS had not updated his bracket predictions as of this writing, but he had Clemson on the wrong side of the bubble before the Virginia loss, so it is likely they will still be there later today.

Bracketologists don’t like Clemson Men’s Basketball to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, but others have voiced support

Jay Bilas of ESPN voiced his support for Clemson to be included in the tournament field:

"“I don’t need two eyes to know Clemson is a tournament team. Clemson has five Quad 1 wins. And four of them are away from home. I don’t even know why this is a discussion. This is an NCAA Tournament team, period. They’ve had really good wins.”"

Head coach Brad Brownell also voiced his opinion following the NC State win:

"“Yes, we should be in the tournament. Obviously I think that, and I’m pretty adamant about it. I thought we had to win today, for sure, to make sure. But to me, we should be in.”"

The brackets will be revealed Sunday at 6:00 PM on CBS.

Next. Clemson Men’s Basketball destroys State, now faces Virginia. dark

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