One and done: Clemson falls to McNeese State in NCAA Tournament upset

Chapel Fowler, The State on Mar 20, 2025

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Clemson grit? More like Clemson whiffed.

After recording the best regular season in program history, the Tigers’ men’s basketball team got outcoached, outplayed and outhustled most of the afternoon in their opening NCAA Tournament game on Thursday afternoon.

The end result, after a late rally: A 69-67 loss to McNeese State that sent a No. 12 seed with an outgoing coach into the round of 32 and a No. 5 seed considered a dark-horse national title contender back home early.

“We picked a tough day to not play our best,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said.

The Tigers trailed by as many as 24 points in the second half and cut their deficit to three points with 12 seconds left before ultimately losing and becoming the first top-5 seed to fall in the opening round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.

Clemson forward Chauncey Wiggins’ 3-pointer cut the score to 68-65 in the final seconds before the Cowboys went 1 for 2 on free throws to go up four (69-65) with 10 seconds remaining and more or less shut the door on a comeback.

On the Tigers’ final possession, guard Jaeden Zackery missed a good look from 3, which would’ve cut the score to 69-68 with about four seconds left.

Clemson guard Chase Hunter got the offensive rebound and laid in the ball at the horn, trying to draw a foul, but there was no call and the upset was on.

Clemson (27-7) was the No. 18 overall seed in the field, according to the NCAA selection committee. The Tigers entered having set single-season records for total wins (27), ACC wins (18) and double-digit ACC wins (15). They handed Duke their only conference loss all year. They were a 7.5-point betting favorite on Thursday.

None of that showed up at Amica Mutual Pavilion against McNeese State (28-6), which had not beaten a power conference school all year, had never won an NCAA game, had never beaten a ranked opponent, starts one player taller than 6-foot-6 and will reportedly lose its coach, Will Wade, to N.C. State after the tournament.

Clemson trailed 31-13 at halftime.

The Tigers, one of the ACC’s top 3-point shooting teams, entered Thursday having shot 12 for 57 (21%) on 3s in their last three games. Improving from deep was a focus point in Clemson practice ... then the Tigers shot 1 of 15 on 3s in the first half.

Forced out of the paint by a pesky McNeese 2-3 zone and unable to capitalize on the height and physicality of starting forwards Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lakhin, Clemson looked nothing like the team that entered averaging 76.3 points per game.

“They were more physical and just wanted the ball more,” Schieffelin said.

The Cowboys led by as many as 24 points (40-16) early in the second half before Zackery got hot and made the game somewhat competitive. The Tigers got their deficit within 13 points (51-38) at the six-minute mark.

But Clemson center Lakhin fouled out shortly afterward after getting called for a shooting foul and an ensuing technical foul, and the Tigers (already short on depth after guard Dillon Hunter’s season-ending injury) couldn’t break through.

McNeese held on tight despite some turnovers to secure its first ever NCAA Tournament win and advance to play Purdue on No. 4 Saturday afternoon.

Clemson went one and done in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 and suffered its second worst upset (in terms of seeding) in NCAA history.

Its first-round loss came one year after the Tigers advanced to only the second Elite Eight in program history as a No. 6 seed, and one day after news leaked that Clemson and Brownell were finalizing another contract extension after Indiana showed interest in him.

“I hate that it had to end the way it did today,” Brownell said.