Brad Brownell reacts to Clemson winning for second time ever in Chapel Hill

Clemson has had their fair share of bad breaks this season, with head coach Brad Brownell believing that his team’s ACC record doesn’t quite reflect how his team has been playing. But the ball definitely bounced the Tigers way on Tuesday night, defeating No. 3 ranked North Carolina 80-76 on the road in the Smith Center.

The win marks just the second in program history in Chapel Hill, and after the game, Brownell was asked about the significance of the historic victory.

“I’m just really happy for my guys,” Brownell said. “The first one is different, the second one now we’re just playing basketball.”

Brownell is in the midst of his 14th season as the Tigers’ head coach, losing his first eight matchups against the Tar Heels before finally securing a win at home in the 2018 season. But the next order of business was winning in UNC’s house.

The Tigers would do so in 2020 two years later, defeating North Carolina on the road in a thrilling 79-76 overtime win to secure the first road win over the Tar Heels in program history. Finally checking off a box versus a historic school that the Clemson program was eager to defeat.

“I didn’t have any questions, I haven’t had any questions in a couple years which is nice. I used to get questions in the summer you know what I mean? Not even the week of the game, but in the summer. Not only from media, but from the Clemson fan base and so to kind of put that behind you is good. Now it’s just playing basketball,” Brownell said.

Brownell has now defeated North Carolina in four of their last eight meetings, setting a new culture and standard with different expectations for Tigers’ basketball.

Tuesday night may be the team’s most impressive win to date over the Tar Heels, representing the highest-ranked opponent Clemson has defeated on the road since 1976 with a win over No. 2 Maryland. Doing so in dominant fashion with North Carolina not leading at any point during the entire ballgame.

The Tigers got out to a red-hot start, opening up the game with a 17-4 advantage to start things off and leading by 16 points with 2:33 remaining in the first half. North Carolina would step up their game, pushing the pace to make things close, but never close enough, as Clemson was able to hold them off for the entirety of the ballgame to secure their much needed fifth conference win of the season.