Clemson basketball had multiple chances to leave Chapel Hill with a victory.
Leading several times throughout the second half, the ultimate knockout punch eluded the Tigers and when it fell to the Tar Heels, Luka Bogavac applied the final dagger in North Carolina’s 67-63 victory on senior night at the Dean Smith Center.
Bogavac scored 20 points, including knocking down six three pointers, and his efforts negated a sensational 22-point effort from the Tigers’ R.J. Godfrey.
With the loss, Clemson basketball has no chance at a double bye in the ACC tournament. The #17 Tar Heels, however, have the inside track to that all-important fourth seed in the tourney. In the end, it was the discrepancy in three-point shooting, North Carolina hit 12 to Clemson’s seven, and free throw shooting, where the Tigers attempted just six shots from the line to the Tar Heels’ 13.
It was enough to doom Clemson basketball despite the Tigers making four more shots from the floor than the Tar Heels.
The first minutes of the first half saw North Carolina take the early advantage with Seth Trimble and Derek Dixon knocking down shots from long range in the first 90 seconds. The Tar Heels’ biggest lead of the first half, seven, was erased once Godfrey started heating up, though.
Godfrey connected on the Tigers’ first three-point shot off the glass late in the first half, with both teams regressing into an offensive slog, and with the score even at 27-27 in the final seconds, Efrem Johnson hit from three to give Clemson a 30-27 halftime lead.
The attrition continued in the second half, with Clemson building a five-point lead twice in the opening minutes of the second stanza. Bogavac would begin his heater, however, and a five-point lead for Clemson basketball turned into a seven-point North Carolina cushion as Luka hit two threes during the run that handed the Tar Heels a 44-37 lead.
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels’ defense forced the Tigers into a number of hurried and harassed shots that led to empty possessions.
“They (North Carolina) stay connected very well (defensively),” said Clemson head coach Brad Brownell. “They do some switching that doesn’t make it easy for you to run some of the things you might like to run. ”
Brad Brownell
Godfrey would bring Clemson back yet again, though. Bulling his way to the rim against North Carolina big man Henri Veesaar, he scored twice off the block before hitting a long two-pointer to put Clemson back in front 50-49.
Bogavac would be too much, however. Luka burned the Tigers on three more long range daggers in the span of 2:20 to give North Carolina a lead they would never relinquish. Though Clemson brought the score to within one point at 64-63 in the final minute, two Bogavac free throws and one more from Trimble with under a second to play sealed the deal.
The Tigers did have a chance to tie the game, with possession in their frontcourt with 10 seconds to play, but Clemson ended up with a contested layup attempt that fell away, prompting the final foul that sent Trimble to the line to ice the game for the Tar Heels.
When asked whether the play was designed for a quick two point try or a three pointer, Brownell was adament that it was the later.
“We had a couple of different guys for threes, and they did a great job,” Brownell explained. “They switched out on everything, made it hard. And then Dillon (Hunter), I guess he didn’t think he had the shot, so he drove it and tried to get a quick two, which was fine, but we were trying to get a three.”
Brad Brownell
Clemson vs. North Carolina Game Highlights | 2025-26 ACC Men’s Basketball
In a tight game, making the most of your opportunities is paramount and something Clemson was unable to do, continued Brownell.
He added, “That’s really what the game kind of came down to,” Brownell said. “It’s just one or two possessions here or there. Turnovers are about the same, rebounding similar, all the things that you would expect in a close game. R.J. was fantastic for us, and just disappointed we had a chance to kind of win one here and just had a couple of bad possessions. And weren’t able to steal a win.”
Brad BrownellGodfrey’s 22 was a career high and led all scorers for Clemson basketball, with Carter Welling chipping in 13. Bogavac’s 20 led North Carolina, with Veesaar contributing 13 points before fouling out in the final 40 seconds of the game.
With the ACC tournament and, presumably, the NCAA Tournament on tap for the Tigers, Brownell said the goal is to take a step back for a day, let Clemson catch their collective breaths, then get back to work with much more meaningful basketball coming up over the next several weeks.
“I mean, we just gotta get our swagger back, I think we’re getting there,” he said. “We had a tough couple of weeks, which in these long seasons happens. I think most teams go through a week or two that maybe don’t go your way. Sometimes you can even play okay but lose. These were two big games, Louisville at home and then at North Carolina. We competed exceptionally hard in both games and got one of the two. Now we need to take a day off and regroup and then come back and try to win our senior day and get the momentum for the (ACC) tournament.”
