Tigers enjoy 'day off' at ACC Tournament

CHARLOTTE — Somehow, some way, the first day of the ACC Tournament came and went without Clemson.

The Tigers and the opening round have traditionally gone together like sneakers and squeaks. They had gone nine straight years without earning a bye to the quarterfinals. For seven straight years, they'd played in the first game of the day.

Until Thursday. A third-place finish in the regular-season standings put Clemson in the unfamiliar and almost uncomfortable position of watching from afar as the four first-round games unfolded at Bobcats Arena.

"I'd be a liar to tell you it didn't feel weird, because we've never been in this position before," said senior forward Sam Perry. "But it's a good weird."

The Tigers probably went to bed feeling good after watching No. 6 seed Maryland suffer a 71-68 upset to No. 11 seed Boston College. Clemson was hoping to avoid a rematch with the Terrapins, a team that squandered a 20-point second-half lead to the Tigers on March 2 and lost 73-70.

The Tigers and Eagles met once this season. Clemson won 78-56 on Feb. 2 at Littlejohn Coliseum.

Tonight's game will follow the 7 p.m. tilt between No. 2 seed Duke and No. 7 seed Georgia Tech. The winner of those two games will meet Saturday in the semifinals.

The Tigers, who won five of their last seven games to finish 22-8 and 10-6 in the conference, have already certainly wrapped up their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998. They tied a school record for ACC victories and posted their highest finish in the standings in 18 years.

But they see this as something more than a leisurely jaunt up I-85 for a March Madness tune-up — and not just because they can improve their NCAA seeding with a good showing.

The Tigers made a splash during the regular season, yet they could make a much bigger one by winning a tournament that has given them almost nothing but fits throughout their 55-year ACC history.

"We've had a very solid year, and that's great," said fifth-year coach Oliver Purnell. "But this is a team that's capable of winning the tournament, capable of a run. Let's not squander an opportunity to take a ride here."

The Tigers have a 14-54 record all-time in the ACC Tournament — fewer victories than North Carolina and Duke have tournament titles (16).

Forty-one times, Clemson has gone one-and-done — including five times in the past six trips. The Tigers are the only original member of the ACC that has yet to claim a title.

The closest the Tigers came was in 1962, when they advanced to the finals before losing to Wake Forest. That remains the only time Clemson has won more than one game in the tournament.

The Tigers say they can begin changing all that starting tonight.

"We're not complacent with just getting here and stepping in the door," Perry said. "We want to join the party, win some games and do great things."

Purnell thinks his squad is tournament-ready because of its depth (the Tigers go 10-deep), its experience (five of those players are juniors or seniors) and its knack for overcoming adversity (four of five starters have missed time this season because of injury or illness, and for the first time ever the Tigers didn't lose back-to-back ACC games).

Boston College (14-16), which entered the tournament on a six-game losing streak before Thursday's victory, has struggled to find anyone to complement point guard Tyrese Rice. He got some help against Maryland, with four other players scoring in double figures to complement his 19 points.

The Eagles only played three reserves Thursday, however.

"We really feel like our depth is an advantage for us," Purnell said. "Obviously if you're fortunate enough to go three games, being 10-deep is an advantage."

Clemson arrived in Charlotte on Wednesday, participated in its shoot-around at the arena that evening, and spent Thursday studying, practicing and taking in the opening-round games on television from the hotel.

In their past two ACC Tournaments, the Tigers went in knowing they had to work to reach the NCAAs. They blew late leads in both games, falling to Florida State last season and Miami in 2006.

"Perhaps the fact that everything's not riding on it, so to speak, may help us relax a little bit," Purnell said. "But we don't want to relax too much. We want to have that edge we've had all year, like something's riding on it."

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