For Clemson Basketball, Cinderella will have to wait another year.
The #8 seed Tigers fell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament to Iowa, 67-61. The Hawkeyes silenced the Clemson offense for much of the night, as the Tigers could never get going when they had the ball, and Iowa led nearly wire to wire.
For the Clemson basketball team (24-11), it was another good season that ended painfully early in the tournament. Finishing fifth overall in the ACC, advancing to the ACC Tournament semifinals, only to ultimately fall to the #9 seed Hawkeyes was another painful reminder that there is work to be done for the Tigers.
Iowa vs. Clemson – First round NCAA tournament extended highlights
Iowa jumped out to an 18-8 lead midway through the first half, with shots not falling for Clemson and sloppy play putting the Tigers behind the eight ball. While Clemson did battle back inside double digits, they went into halftime trailing 32-25.
Clemson kept within arm’s reach in the second half, cutting the Hawkeyes’ lead to 56-51 with just over four minutes to play, then to within 61-57 inside the final minute, but it was as close as the Tigers would get as Iowa iced the game in the last 40 seconds.
RJ Godfrey led all Clemson scorers with 15 with Butta Johnson chipping in with 11, but they would be the only two Tigers in double figures as the absence of Carter Welling was noticeable.
Iowa was led by Bennett Stirtz with 16, while Kael Combs and Alvaro Folgueiras added 15 and 14 respectively.
Iowa also dominated the boards, outrebounding Clemson 40-27. Despite the Tigers outscoring the Hawkeyes 36-35 in the second half, the cold first half shooting was enough to doom Clemson and seal the Tigers’ fate. Clemson was plagued all season by a lack of a true scorer who could take over a game. With head coach Brad Brownell always active in the transfer portal, acquiring pure scorer will undoubtedly be a point of emphasis in the coming months.
For now, Clemson basketball will be forced to ruminate on what could have been as another season comes to a disappointing end.
