Brad Brownell
Postgame Press Conference
Louisville 76, Clemson 73
BRAD BROWNELL: Obviously, a very difficult ending for us. Really proud of my players for just continuing to compete and believe and just keep fighting.
We had a chance to win the game there at the end, had a couple things maybe not go our way, but man, we just -- these guys just kept fighting.
Congratulations to Louisville. It was a hard-fought game by both teams. We didn't play as well at times offensively in the middle of the game. But loved the way we finished.
Q. Chase, on that last possession on the foul, did you feel like there was contact there?
CHASE HUNTER: Yeah, that's not up to me. I really tried to make a play, and it just didn't go my way.
Q. After a loss like this in the ACC Tournament, you guys had an early exit last year in the ACC Tournament, as well, to Boston College. How do you guys, as players, put this behind you and revamp for March Madness?
IAN SCHIEFFELIN: You know, we can't really dwell on this loss. It obviously hurts. We've put in a lot of work all year. We wanted to win.
But we've just got to get back to work.
CHASE HUNTER: Ian said it well.
Q. Guys, that comeback later in the game was pretty stellar. Would you talk about the mentality when those last three minutes and what you feel happened to get you back in range again?
CHASE HUNTER: Yeah, we just fought. We knew the game wasn't over. There was a lot of time left on the clock. We're a very gritty team, and we wanted to fight until the end.
IAN SCHIEFFELIN: Just shows what kind of team we are, how connected we are. We wanted to win. It didn't go our way today most of the game, but at the end of the day, you've got to keep fighting, and that's what we did.
Q. For either of you guys, just, you're down 11 with about two minutes left, to go from that to losing by three, having a chance to win, sitting with a three-point loss versus an 11-point loss, what can that do confidence-wise going into the next game?
IAN SCHIEFFELIN: At the end of the day, we still lost. A loss is a loss. But I think just being in situations like that, we know that we can come back, just giving full effort no matter what until the clock hits zero.
Q. This has been a pretty historic season for y'all. What has the successfulness of the season meant to y'all?
CHASE HUNTER: Yeah, it means a lot. We put in a lot of work over the summer. We do a lot. Coaches do a lot of work, and we prepare the right way. We go out there and fight really hard. So, to have that season, it just shows that the work that we put in and the togetherness that we have as a team.
IAN SCHIEFFELIN: Just a lot of pride wearing a Clemson jersey. We're here to win, and that's what we did this year. We're just trying to do everything we can for Clemson.
Q. Ian, with your jersey torn, are you guys sad or mad, and what's the difference?
IAN SCHIEFFELIN: You know, I guess it's just competitiveness. You just want to win every game. It hurts. This is my last ACC Tournament, and obviously, you want to win it. Kind of just ran out of steam, I guess, but, you know, we still got more basketball to play, so we've got to move on.
Q. Could you see this as motivation? Last year, you guys came out of nowhere and made an incredible run in the NCAA Tournament, barring the loss to Boston College in the ACC Tournament. How do y'all feel, motivation for this coming up?
CHASE HUNTER: Yeah, I would say we're motivated. We know we're a great team. If we just go out there and play the way we're supposed to play, and I think we can compete with anybody in the country. Yeah, we're ready for our next battle.
IAN SCHIEFFELIN: I agree. We're just going to compete no matter who we're playing, and we're going to get back to it whenever we get back.
Q. Coach, do you have any comments on that last call on the foul?
BRAD BROWNELL: No. Obviously proud of my guys for making a tough play, taking it in there against their defense to try to score, get fouled, and there was certainly contact. It's a hard play to referee.
Q. How would you evaluate Chauncey Wiggins and Del Jones play in Dillon Hunter's absence tonight?
BRAD BROWNELL: Yeah, I haven't studied the film. Obviously, I'd probably need to do that. I don't think any of them played as well as they would like. But it's not an easy situation, either, and they're different kind of players, so we have to do a few different things when Del is in versus Chauncey versus Dillon. They're just different players. I really would have to evaluate the tape more before I gave specifics.
Q. On the 11-point game run to get the game closer, you called a time-out. Can you tell us what you were talking about with your players and what maybe motivated them?
BRAD BROWNELL: Yeah, I mean, it was obvious we got frustrated in the second half. We didn't play as well. We missed some plays that we need to finish. Louisville played great. Defensively, they were hard to deal with.
I thought defensively, we did a lot of good things. But I could just sense frustration with our guys, and I was just reminding them from the six to eight-minute mark on that this is a long game. There's a lot of possessions left. Obviously, it didn't look good when we were down 15, but this is basketball; it's the craziness of March and basketball in general.
When you have a couple good players that can make plays, the game can flip quickly. We obviously did that here in the last three minutes.
Q. Did you get any clarity on what happened at halftime with y'all getting locked out of the locker room? Has that ever happened to you before?
BRAD BROWNELL: No, not at this level. It's disappointing, obviously.
