The No. 5 seeded Clemson Tigers are in serious danger of suffering the first upset of March Madness 2025 after a historically poor display of offense against No. 12 seed McNeese.
Clemson nearly set a new NCAA tournament record for futile offense vs. McNeese
Is it bad to average less than a point a minute in a half of basketball? Yes, yes it is.
Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images
Brad Brownell’s squad, which averaged about 76 points per game this season, scored a whopping 13 points against the Cowboys.
That’s it. In 20 minutes.
Dating back to 1985-86 when the shot clock era was introduced in the college game, the existing record for fewest points in a half in an NCAA men’s basketball tournament contest was 12 by the Wisconsin Badgers against Missouri State back in 1999. Wisconsin would lose 43-32 after shooting just 25%.
If not for a a late lay-up by Jaeden Zackery, Clemson would’ve achieved a new low point.
All the ways Clemson’s first half vs. McNeese was a disaster
- Clemson shot 5/24 (20.8%) from the floor and a ghastly 1/15 (6.67%) from three-point range in the first half. They came into the game ranked 35th among Division I schools in three-point field goal percentage (37.15%).
- Clemson, who average roughly 10 turnovers per game on the season, had 10 turnovers in a half.
- McNeese’s Brandon Murray, who averaged 7 points per game on the season, scored 14 in the first half and therefore outscored Clemson by himself.
- Jaeden Zackery was the only Clemson player to make more than one field goal.
- Clemson scored 6 of their 13 points in the first four minutes of the game and had multiple scoring droughts of at least four minutes.
The good news for Clemson is that they were a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line. The bad news was everything else, including their 18-point halftime deficit.
Clemson’s second half could not have been any different, albeit just a bit too late. They scored 54 points on 51 percent shooting, made six three-pointers, and made 14 of 17 free throws. Clemson clawed back from a 22-point deficit behind 24 points from Zackery and 21 from Chase Hunter, but McNeese State hung on for a 69-67 win in Providence.
It was as inopportune a time for Clemson to play one of the worst halves of offense ever seen in an NCAA tournament game, and the torrid second half performance left them with too much to do.
On the flip side, it was a monumental and historic win for the Southland Conference champion Cowboys, led by the soon-to-be departing head coach Will Wade. McNeese notched its first ever NCAA tournament win on its fourth attempt and will play the No. 4 seed Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday.
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