Brad Brownell reacts to controversial call vs. Duke: ‘The game was taken from us’

Clemson fell at Duke on Saturday evening in what was a very tough loss to swallow for head coach Brad Brownell and the Tiger players, especially after some controversial officiating down the stretch.

The Blue Devils only scored two field goals in the final six minutes of the game — and one of those was an and-one, so Duke really only scored one bucket that wasn’t foul-assisted during that stretch. Yet, they were able to thwart a Clemson comeback by getting to the free throw stripe and cashing in when it mattered most.

They got some help from Tiger forward Ian Schieffelin, who turned the ball over four straight times in the final two minutes. And after his fourth, Schieffelin was the one tagged for the foul on Kyle Filipowski’s and-one with 15 seconds to play which gave Duke the lead.

But Clemson themselves earned a foul call and made a pair of free throws to re-take the lead at 71-70. With one second remaining on the ensuing Duke possession, Josh Beadle was whistled for a foul that would ultimately decide the game, allowing Tyrese Proctor the opportunity to knock down a pair foul shots to seal the deal.

“Caught up in the emotion of the game and I thought what happened tonight — really disappointed with how it ended,” Brownell said of the final sequence afterwards.

“Give the Duke kids credit for being aggressive and taking it to the basket, but that’s really poor, that’s poor,” he added on the call. “So we got to get better for it, but really hate it for my players. Thought we played very well tonight in a lot of ways, and obviously, to not be rewarded with a win, stings.”

Later on in his press conference, Brad Brownell even asserted that a certain official on the floor might have a bone to pick with the Clemson program.

“Yeah, I think we’ve had some history with that official,” he said, before noting that the entire team felt like they got the rug pulled out from under them in Cameron Indoor.

“So, there was a lot of emotion from our bench because we’re a passionate group that fought their tails off and feel like the game was maybe taken from us a little bit. And it shouldn’t be decided like that.”

There’s no doubt Duke was once again the beneficiary of an officiating decision at home on Saturday. But at the same time, those four straight turnovers from one player probably contributed just as, if not more, to the loss compared to those calls.