Chase Hunter takes blame for ending of regulation vs. Memphis

Chase Hunter did not like how he ended the game in regulation for Clemson on Saturday.

Hunter placed blame on himself for what happened to the Tigers in their 87-82 loss at home to Memphis this weekend. To start the final minute of the second half, he felt he helped to give up their five-point lead in with bad defense on one end first and then a turnover on the other after that to get back to a tie at 72.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I think we had a five-point lead with a minute to go. You know, I think I hit that three and then I cam down, celebrated too much. I should have been more focused. Got hit on the ball screen and then they were able to – we had to help off that and they hit a big three. Then, yeah, the next play down, I think I got a little out of control and lost the ball and, you know, they were able to come down and get a two,” recalled Hunter.

“I think those last few plays are on me,” Hunter said postgame. “I’ve got to be better as a senior leader and, you know, make sure that we get that game finished.”

Hunter then felt the same way about his final shot in the closing seconds of the game. After catching the ball with 11 seconds left, he went almost nowhere off a few dribble moves with the clock winding down as he took a deep, contested three-pointer that missed as the game went to overtime.

“Nah, it wasn’t. It wasn’t,” Hunter answered regarding if that was the shot he had wanted. “I’m still thinking about it now. You know, I should have drove there, tried to get a foul or, you know, something better. You know, I kind of waited a little too late.”

“Yeah, that was on me on that last play,” said Hunter.

From there, Memphis, who gave up a 10-point lead of their own to be down six, capitalized in the extra five minutes of action. They won the overtime at 15-10 to leave Littlejohn Coliseum with a Top-20 win on the road.

Hunter is Clemson’s leading scorer and one of their two best players – not even to mention his experience as a sixth-year graduate student. That’s why his team will need better from him in moments like that in the future after what happened in this second loss of their season this weekend.