Clemson sets its sights on tournament first-round bye

CLEMSON — At 19-8 overall, 7-6 in ACC play, Clemson is on the verge of its third straight NCAA tournament berth.

Coach Oliver Purnell believes an 8-8 ACC record “gets you in” the Big Dance, and the Tigers have three chances left to accomplish that feat.

Trouble is, two of those are on the road, starting with today’s 5:30 p.m. game at Florida State (20-7, 8-5). This is one of the toughest ACC seasons ever to win away from home; entering Saturday’s games, home teams were 56-22, a 71.8 percent clip. That’s the sixth-best mark in league history.

“My recollection is that it’s always been tough,” Purnell said. “First off, teams are good. Second, the environments are rabid. It’s that old (situation) where people are more comfortable at home and you’ve got to recreate a same kind of preparation and approach on the road. It’s just tougher.”

Clemson is 1-5 in ACC road games, with the only win coming Jan. 16 at last-place N.C. State.

Wednesday, the Tigers led by as many as 15 points at Maryland, but allowed the Terrapins to shoot 60 percent in the second half en route to an 88-79 defeat.

Junior point guard Demontez Stitt said his team lost its collective cool at Comcast Center.

“It’s easy, when you’re not at home to let the crowd get to you, it’s easy to lose focus,” he said. “Against Maryland we lost our focus. (When) you’re home, you’re into it, the crowd is into it, it’s a lot of energy involved, especially with the way that we play.

“On the road we have to learn to create our own energy to stay focused. The road is harder to do that, when the other team’s crowd is into it, it’s loud, it’s easy to lose focus, and get off into your own thing.”

The Tigers beat FSU 77-67 in the teams’ first meeting Feb. 10, but haven’t won at the Tucker Center since 2006-07. They’re 4-14 all-time there, although Purnell owns two of those wins.

Success today will ride with defense. Although Clemson cooled down offensively after halftime, scoring 31 points following a 48-point first half, he said defense was the main culprit. Maryland shot 54.2 percent for the game.

“We got away from who we are when we’re good and that’s defense,” Purnell said. “We stopped attacking, and then the basket got a little smaller for us in the last eight minutes and there you are, you’re not attacking defensively. (In a 62-53 win over Maryland Jan. 31) we made up our minds we’re going to guard every possession, and we’re going to tough it out defensively, and we didn’t do that again. We got into that let’s outscore them mode, and then when they started making a run at us, let’s hold them off by outscoring as opposed to digging them in and stopping them.”

Stitt said he and his teammates must be accountable.

“We pretty much gave the game away, beat ourselves,” he said. “Coach blamed himself for it, but I don’t think it’s on the coaches because they’re not out there playing. It’s up to us to step up and we have to make the decision — do we want to make stops and win games?”

Involving star senior forward Trevor Booker (who averages 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game) will also be crucial. Wednesday, Booker scored 11 points in the first half but just two after halftime, floating around the perimeter instead of working inside.

Clemson made eight 3-pointers in the first half but just three in the second, and its offense went stagnant.

“We just can’t fall in love with the jump shot like we did,” Stitt said. We have to get (Booker) touches. The biggest thing is that when Trevor’s not touching the ball in the post, the tendency is to float to the perimeter and get something going that way.”

Winning tonight would also boost chances of an ACC tournament bye. The top four teams get first-round byes, and the Tigers were among four teams within a game of one another battling for third and fourth place entering play Saturday.

“Both teams would definitely like to have a bye, definitely like to pad their tournament resumes,” Purnell said. “I have no doubt Florida State is playing well and will be ready so we’ve got to be ready.”

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