The Tigers hit the road last night, taking on UVA, hoping to break their current nine game losing streak to the Cavaliers. It went as they’ve all gone in Charlottesville of late.
Clemson only managed 14 points in the first half, but managed to keep it close throughout the second. They just couldn’t hit enough shots, and watched the losing streak grow to 10 in a 51-44 loss.
Aamir Simms was the team’s leading scorer, with 16 points. He shot 6 of 16 from the field, 2 of 4 from the free throw line, and grabbed three rebounds.
Al-Amir Dawes was the second leading scorer with 11 points. He went 5-12 from the floor on the night, but just 1-6 from the three point line. He also pulled down eight rebounds. Tevin Mack added 10 points on the night.
While the Tigers did a great job on defense with the zone, they could not account for the Wahoos Braxton Key, who had 19 points to lead them in scoring. That includes hitting 4-6 from the three point line. He also had 8 rebounds.
Mamadi Diakite ended the night with 13 points and 8 rebounds while Jay Huff had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers showed inconsistencies again on the offensive end of the court. They started the night on a streak of almost 4 minutes before scoring their first basket of the game.
The Cavaliers weren’t much better offensively, and never really could put the Tigers away, until very late. That’s despite the fact that Clemson only shot 6-28 from beyond the arc (21.4%), and hit just 17-52 from the field (32%). The Tigers were able to pull within three at 42-39, but that was as close as they would get.
Clemson is now 11-11 on the season and 5-7 in ACC play. The Cavaliers improve to 15-6 and 7-4 in ACC play.
One can only wonder what this team might be capable of if they had a healthy Jonathan Baehre to add more size and could find some kind of consistency shooting the ball from the perimeter.
There really is no reason for the long streaks of not being able to score, and the droughts tend to happen in every game. From a fans perspective, it’s not fun to watch. Doing so can be very frustrating.
The Tigers return to LittleJohn Sunday night to host Notre Dame. The Irish are 14-8 on the season, and 5-6 in conference play. Tipoff is set for 6pm on the ACCN.
