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Clemson blows 20-point lead in home loss to Oakland

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[Tiger Illustrated's In-game Thread | Box score]

CLEMSON -- Clemson’s basketball season ended abruptly Tuesday night with a new level of disappointment and disbelief.

It was all smooth sailing for the Clemson Tigers until the wind got blown out of their sails following a golden run by the Golden Grizzlies to overcome a 20-point deficit in the second half. The Tigers fell to seventh-seeded Oakland 74-69 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament, which ended a 12-game home winning streak in the NIT.

Jaron Blossomgame, in what was his final game in a Clemson jersey, accounted for a game-high 24 points. Sherron Dorsey-Walker and Martinez Walker put the Grizzlies on their backs in the second half by combining for 35 points after they had each struggled in the first half.

Clemson played comfortable, confident and loose in the first half and ended the half on a 20-2 run capped off by a Gabe Devoe fade away three at the buzzer. Clemson forced Oakland into 11 first half turnovers, which led to Clemson getting 20 points off of those turnovers and the home crowd breathing easy at halftime.

The second half was a completely different story.

After being down 49-29 with 16:46 remaining, Oakland sparked an incredible comeback and outscored Clemson 45-20 in that span. After tying the game at 61 thanks to their tempo and confidence on the offensive end, all of the momentum was going their way. Clemson fans and the team went from breathing easy to breathless in a matter of minutes.

With their season on the line, the Tigers got tight offensively. Reeling from Shelton Mitchell tweaking his ankle and losing some tempo, the offense became stale and the game ended in similar fashion as other close contests this year: disappointment from missed opportunities.

“I guess we got comfortable,” Blossomgame said. “We thought we had the game and it was a lot closer than we realized. We didn’t make shots and kind of rushed through our possessions… same story every game.”

Coming into the game, Oakland had not given up more than 40-percent shooting from the field all season long. Making Mitchell uncomfortable and wearing Clemson down with their consistent pressure for 40 minutes forced Clemson to shoot 39-percent from the field.

Oakland was relentless on the boards in the victory and that was a factor in leaving Littlejohn with a win. They outrebounded Clemson 45-32, which led to 17 second-chance points.

Brad Brownell was frustrated with his team’s second half production, especially on the glass.

“We did such a poor job. Jalen Hayes gets hurt and so maybe both the Walker wings felt a little bit more free to go make plays and we got lost on those guys off of screening action a lot in the second half a lot more than we did in the first half. Sometimes our post players were extending and helping on screening action so when a shot goes up, their guy has inside position. There were some long rebounds and missed block outs.

“It just goes back to energy, competitive fight and being ready to go. I couldn’t get them to get back into it in the second half and that’s on me.”

Clemson finishes the season 17-16 and fans can’t help to wonder what could have been if this Clemson team had caught a couple of breaks throughout the long season. Instead, the season ends in disappointment and as Blossomgame put it: "Embarrassing."

Clemson finishes the season 2-10 in games decided by six points or less.

“It was a disappointing end to our season and I feel bad for our seniors,” Brownell said. “I didn’t do a good job. I couldn’t get our team to play in the second half the way we needed to play. I thought we did a lot of really good things in the first half, ended it in great style, but unfortunately we just couldn’t get their energy back up in the second half.

"The game showed some of our deficiencies defensively. We just stopped playing a little bit and when guys get down like that, good players can make shots and play with a lot of confidence. As the game wore on, obviously we got tight.”

Earlier in the week, Brownell said he felt comfortable about his job and remained confident after the upset loss, saying he “feels good” about his conversation with Athletic Director Dan Radakovich coming up.

“I don’t know if anything changed other than we had a bad half. Maybe it did, but I don’t’ think so.”

It will be interesting to see where this Clemson team goes after losing a few key players and one potential first-round draft pick.

Regardless, this season ended where not many thought it would. At home, in the NIT, blowing a 20-point lead despite going in a double-digit favorite.

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