CLEMSON -- It got so bad at one point that even the in-house radio guys couldn't sugarcoat it.
"This is bad," play-by-play man Don Munson said.
"Awful," replied analyst Tim Bourret. "The worst half we've played all year."
And this wasn't yesterday.
It was a week ago today in Charlotte.
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Clemson lost to McNeese and Louisville by a combined five points. That suggests two games that came down to a play here or there, a bad call here or there, a locked locker-room door here or there.
But not even the people on the chartered flight home from New England, the coaches and players who aspired for the Final Four but couldn't make the Final 32, are going to view it that way.
So much of surviving and advancing is about getting hot at the right time.
Clemson went cold at the wrong time.
And the big chill went deeper than just yesterday.
At one point this season, Clemson led the ACC in 3-point shooting at 38.9 percent. It was on pace to be Brad Brownell's highest clip not just over his 15 years leading the Tigers but his entire head-coaching career that stretches back to 2002.
Clemson shot 24.1 percent from 3 over its final six games.
Game. Set. Season.
The thing about this team was that it could beat you in so many different ways, and a lot of that was rooted in how many guys were dangerous from long range.
In the 79-69 victory at SMU a month ago, it wasn't just Jaeden Zackery getting hot from deep with five makes on eight attempts. Five other guys hit 3-pointers that day. Viktor Lakhin and Ian Schieffelin combined to go 4 of 7.
When that many guys, particularly your big guys, can hit from long range it's worth more than the extra point because it spreads out defenses and opens up space for cutters and the high-low game that has often been unstoppable the past two years whether with Schieffelin and PJ Hall, or with Schieffelin and Lakhin.
Now add in a bunch of team-first players who are eager to facilitate great shots by turning down good ones and making the extra pass, and it's the perfect storm that created a really freaking good team barreling down the stretch of the season.
A truly great team? We were skeptical of that even during the highest moments. But a damn good one, and that was a hell of an accomplishment after Hall, Joe Girard and others left the building.
They had four losses in the regular season, and three of them were in overtime.
They had seemingly legitimate hopes of claiming their first ACC Tournament championship, and they seemingly had ample motivation to do it after the one-and-done flameout against Boston College last year.
But amid the excitement and anticipation there was an ominous trend lurking: Chase Hunter, the engine of this team, had scored just 53 points over the last five games of the regular season while shooting just 19 of 48 on field goals.
Perhaps more concerning: Just 11 free-throw attempts for Hunter over those last five games, evidence of less aggression and attacking.
Eight days ago, Hunter rose to the moment with 19 second-half points against SMU and that was right according to script. That's what big-time players do. They sense when it's time to take control, just as Hunter did last year to fuel the Elite Eight run and just as he did many times this season.
But in 60 minutes of first-half basketball over the last three games, Hunter scored a total of 10 points.
That's not going to cut it this time of year. That's not going to get you anywhere close to cutting down nets.
As much as March Madness is defined by what happens on one-possession games at the very end, what happens much earlier is important too. And Hunter himself recognized that yesterday after Clemson had to battle back from a 24-point deficit.
"It obviously hurts to get that close and know that we had a chance to win," he said. "But it doesn't come down to the last plays. It comes down to the first half where we could've put ourselves in a better position. ...
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"We weren't as physical as them. We were kind of surprised by how hard they were playing. I did a bad job as a leader of rallying the guys and getting us on track. Also I think we had a lot of open shots that we missed. I think we were 1-for-15 from 3 in the first half. If a couple of those fall it's a whole different game."
Confidence is a fickle thing, and Clemson's was very much in question after the Tigers missed so many shots coming in. Throw in Will Wade's perfectly timed defensive wrinkle that caught Clemson off guard, and a deer in headlights was the Tigers' one shining moment.
"I was trying really to just get them to relax," Brownell said. "We haven't shot the ball very well the last two weeks. I don't know why that is. We obviously did a bunch of extra shooting this week, and we're 1-for-15 at halftime. And you can almost see our guys pressing and just -- I mean, trying hard and shooting is not a good concept."
They beat Kentucky and Duke to make the case that they could beat anyone and make a run. They went to Dallas and beat SMU with authority.
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But those major triumphs were in December and February.
The calendar turned to March, and the Tigers turned cold.
