Brad Brownell explains what changed for Clemson in second half vs. TCU

Clemson pulled away from TCU in the second half of Saturday’s game in Toronto to earn a 74-66 win in a battle of unbeatens.

After leading by one at the break, the Tigers outscored TCU 38-31 in the second half and led by as many as 16 points with 3:51 remaining in the game.

Following the win, Clemson coach Brad Brownell shared what changed for his team in the second half that allowed the Tigers to pull away.

“We had a little bit better spacing. And just tried to get our guys to play with a little more poise,” Brownell said.

Clemson didn’t get to prepare like it normally would for a big game ahead of the matchup with the Horned Frogs. The Tigers hosted a rivalry game against South Carolina on Wednesday, then made the long trip to Toronto on Thursday.

Brownell’s team then had a day to settle in and prepare before the matchup with TCU.

“We didn’t really practice much for this game. We were pretty emotionally spent, physically drained from the South Carolina game,” Brownell said. “Thursday we walked through and watched film and traveled. So then Friday we worked out for 40 minutes, 45 minutes, maybe. It was half speed, at most. So I just think we were a half step slow in the game.”

A half step slow to start out, at least. Eventually Clemson settled in and played well.

Joe Girard led the way for the Tigers with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Ian Schieffelin added 14 points, 9 boards and 5 assists. Girard scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half.

“TCU’s so athletic and long that it kind of jumps at you if you’re not ready for it, and not practicing against what they do was problematic for a half,” Brownell said. “Our guys adjusted and were much better in the second half.”

With the win, Clemson moved up to No. 13 in the AP Poll and No. 11 in the Coaches Poll. The Tigers have a big second half to thank for allowing them to finish off the victory.

“We got sped up in the first half, and kind of off our miss offense, we weren’t very good, to be honest with you,” Brownell said. “We were turning the ball over, playing too fast, poor spacing and a lot of poor decision making by our guards. We slowed down and got a little bit of ball reversal and we were much better.”