Clemson vs. College of Charleston Postgame Coaches’ Quotes

Nov. 19, 2011

Clemson Head Coach Brad Brownell

Overall thoughts: “It’s a tough day to be a Tiger. Give Charleston a lot of credit. We knew coming into the game that their starting five can all really score. They make you pay for any defensive mistakes. For whatever reason, our team was a little lethargic in the beginning. We missed a lot of shots that we need to make offensively. Defensively, we just didn’t have the grit that you need to compete with a team with the talented guys that they have. In the second half, we fought hard and gave ourselves a chance to get back into the game. They had guys step up and make big plays and big shots late in the shot clock. That’s what you have to do to grab a road win, and they did.”

On the team’s slow start: “We just weren’t as gritty, competitive, ready for a fight as we needed to be. I think we just kind of tried to get ourselves into the game. There wasn’t a great crowd and it was kind of stale, so we had to be ready.

“Charleston had a big opportunity to come into our building and win, and they seized the opportunity. We had poor communication and poor energy. By the time we rectified that, we were well behind. Against a good team like that, it’s going to be a battle.”

On the team’s defensive pressure in the second half: “It was making it harder on them. We were taking them into the clock, and at the end of the day, they had guys make one-on-one plays. Because they have so many shooters, you can’t give as much help as you can against most teams. I still think they had to make some tough shots, but to their credit, they did. That was probably the difference.”

On what his team can take away from the game: “Nobody likes learning lessons from losses, but that’s what we have to do. You hate to lose a game to have to learn some things. Some of our older guys know better. You just have to strap it on and be ready. We just didn’t quite have the juice that we needed tonight, and they did. By the time we got it all figured out and got some things to go our way, we had a big hole to climb. It turned out to be too big. We ran out of time.”

College of Charleston Head Coach Bobby Cremins

Overall thoughts: “The first half was as good of basketball as I’ve ever coached. We played a perfect first half- the boys did exactly what we talked about. I was ready to get on the bus at halftime. We knew what was going to happen- we just had to hold the gap. We held them for a while, but the later it got, the sloppier we got.

“Clemson showed tremendous heart. They kept putting up points. I know it’s a tough loss for Clemson, but they showed a lot of heart. They had the chance to tie it or win it at the end. We had some tough turnovers down the stretch. We’re a young team, so it’s a big win for us. We hung on for dear life at the end, though.”