Clemson Escapes Another Collapse, But Questions Linger After Narrow Win Over Cincinnati
GREENVILLE - For the second time this month, Clemson built a 22-point second-half lead. And for the second time, that lead nearly vanished.
This time, though, the Tigers held on - barely.
Clemson’s 68-65 win over Cincinnati on Saturday wasn’t pretty, and it certainly wasn’t stress-free. But it was a win the Tigers had to have.
After watching a massive advantage evaporate against BYU at Madison Square Garden earlier in December - a game they lost on a buzzer-beating three - Clemson found itself staring down a familiar nightmare. Up 22 in the second half against the Bearcats, the Tigers saw that cushion shrink to just one point with 40 seconds left.
That’s when senior guard Dillon Hunter stepped up.
“We just knew, as a team, just stay locked in, stay focused, worry about the next play,” Hunter said afterward.
And that’s exactly what Clemson did. RJ Godfrey delivered a clutch post bucket with 14 seconds remaining to push the lead back to three.
Cincinnati answered quickly, but Hunter calmly knocked down four free throws in the final seconds to ice it. A last-second Bearcats heave missed, and the Tigers could finally exhale.
This wasn’t a neutral-site game in the truest sense - not with Bon Secours Wellness Arena just down the road from Clemson’s campus and packed with orange-clad fans. But the Tigers needed every ounce of that home-state energy to avoid another second-half meltdown.
At 10-3, Clemson closes out its non-conference slate with a solid overall record and, more importantly, no bad losses. That matters when it comes to NCAA Tournament resumes.
A loss to Cincinnati - ranked No. 110 in the NET - on a neutral floor would’ve landed in Quad 3 territory. That’s the kind of blemish that can linger come Selection Sunday.
Instead, the Tigers survived. And in doing so, they showed just enough resolve to suggest they’re still learning how to win with this group.
A Team Still Finding Its Identity
This Clemson team isn’t short on talent, but it’s still a work in progress. Head coach Brad Brownell is juggling a roster that includes a mix of returners and transfers, and that chemistry is still coming together. The Tigers have shown flashes - strong halves against Alabama, BYU, and now Cincinnati - but haven’t put together many complete 40-minute efforts.
“We've played a lot of good halves against high-major teams. We haven't played a lot of full 40 minutes great,” Brownell said.
“Some of that is it's hard to do that. The other teams are good, too.”
He’s not wrong. Alabama, BYU, and Cincinnati are all capable teams.
But Clemson’s tendency to let big leads slip away - often due to turnovers and defensive lapses - is becoming a pattern. Against Cincinnati, the Tigers committed 10 second-half turnovers, many of them unforced.
Brownell pointed to the psychological side of the game, too. When teams get down big, they play looser. Shots start falling, pressure lifts, and momentum shifts.
“I don't care what you say, when you're down 20 or 15, it’s easier to shoot when you get an open shot,” Brownell said. “All of a sudden, a couple go in, it changes the momentum of the game.”
That’s exactly what happened Saturday. But this time, Clemson didn’t fold.
Depth Taking a Hit
The Tigers are also dealing with some roster attrition. Freshman guard Zac Foster is out for the season with a torn ACL, suffered in the win over South Carolina. And UAB transfer Butta Johnson, who has been a key piece off the bench, is battling a groin injury and logged just eight minutes against Cincinnati.
“We needed Butta to play another 10 minutes, just to help keep guys fresh,” Brownell said. “You gotta remember, we've been a team, that's how we've been playing - with depth. Now all of a sudden, we gotta figure some things out, because we don't have two guards.”
That lack of depth showed in the second half, as the Tigers struggled to maintain energy and composure. With 10 days before their ACC opener at Syracuse on Dec. 31, the break couldn’t come at a better time.
Hunter’s Steady Hand
If there was a silver lining in Saturday’s chaos, it was Dillon Hunter. The senior guard wasn’t flashy, but he was rock solid when it mattered most. His late-game free throws helped seal the win, and his poise under pressure didn’t go unnoticed.
“He's confident, right?” Brownell said.
“He just does a winning play, whatever that is. Guard somebody, make free throws at the end, make an open shot.
Carries himself in a very positive way, confident way. And he's played that way.”
Hunter’s leadership will be critical as Clemson enters the grind of ACC play. The Tigers don’t have a clear-cut star, but they do have a roster full of capable contributors. The question is whether someone will emerge as a go-to option when things get tight.
Tournament Outlook: Room to Grow
Clemson entered the weekend ranked No. 36 in the NET - seventh among ACC teams, trailing Duke, Louisville, North Carolina, Virginia, NC State, and Miami. That puts them squarely in the NCAA Tournament conversation, but there’s work to be done.
The Tigers are just 1-2 in Quad 1 games, with missed chances against BYU and Alabama. To solidify their tournament resume, they’ll need to flip a few of those opportunities into wins during conference play.
The good news? The ACC looks deeper this year. There are more chances for quality wins, and Clemson has shown they can compete with anyone when they’re locked in.
But they’ve also shown how quickly things can unravel.
“Our defense in the first half was dynamite,” Brownell said. “We forced turnovers.
We got them to take some wild shots. We got transition.
And the second half, the game switched. We've got to do a better job as coaches and continue to try to help our guys.”
The pieces are there. The challenge now is putting them together - for a full 40 minutes.