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Clemson Basketball: 3 reasons why Tigers will miss the NCAA Tournament

By Tristan Freeman

Jan 28, 2023; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Brad Brownell looks on during a game against the Florida State Seminoles at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 28, 2023; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Clemson Tigers head coach Brad Brownell looks on during a game against the Florida State Seminoles at Donald L. Tucker Center. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports /
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2. Injuries in the backcourt are starting to show

One of the most impressive things about this season has been how Clemson has completely turned over the backcourt from a year ago and somehow has been better. But they’ve gone over a month without having at least one of their three top guards on the court.

The good news is that they returned two of them in the past week, including leading perimeter scorer Chase Hunter, who had 12 points in the game against Clemson. They also got back Alex Hemenway, who shot around 50% from three-point range before a foot injury took him out for the past month. He returned on Tuesday, going scoreless in 15 minutes off the bench. They don’t have Brevin Galloway but he’s expected to return in the next week or so after a “lower body” injury.

Clemson is a good offensive team but mainly when Tyson, who leads them with 16.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg, goes off. They only have five capable double-digit scorers and that includes the three injured guards. Once they’re all back that issue can be resolved but it speaks to the margin of error that they don’t have compared to other top teams.

Of the 10 ACC wins, four were won in the last minute and could’ve easily gone the other way. And that Florida State victory was one they stole this past weekend. With what I would say is a tough slate to end league play, are they going to remain as lucky?