NCAA Tournament – Clemson crushes UAB in the First Four

We all knew it. Ok, no, let me rephrase that. Apparently we all knew it except for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee: UAB had neither record nor merit to be in the NCAA Tournament. And sure enough, even though they had to play the Clemson Tigers, who on their own are not exactly on the firmest ground when it comes to receiving a berth for the NCAA Tournament, it was more than evident that they had no business been there. You can make your case for your favorite, but Colorado and Virginia Tech had certainly more reasons to be in the Big Tournament, and perhaps teams like UAB and Georgia should had stayed in the NIT.

Sure enough Clemson didn’t have much trouble sending UAB back to Birmingham and for an early vacation. The Tigers went for a 21-2 run in the first half and never looked back. It was a good win not only for the Tigers but for the UAB detractors. Perhaps what matters most is that Clemson has justly won its first tournament game since 1997. And maybe, and only maybe, they did so not just because they were playing UAB. We’ll have to wait a bit more on that one, and see what the Tigers can put together at Tampa against West Virginia University.  

The Tigers ended their season strong, beating (and perhaps pushing out of NCAA Tournament) Virginia Tech and then wiping out Boston College by 23 points in their first ACC tournament game. That was certainly a very important win when it came to impressing the Committee. Even more, Clemson led North Carolina by 10 at halftime before the Tar Heels put on one heck of a comeback and beat the Tigers in overtime for the ACC’s Tournament semis.

Jerai Grant had a career-best 22 points and 7 rebounds for the Tigers helping Clemson break out of an ACC record five game losing streak in the NCAA tournament. The 18-point victory was the largest winning margin in any of Clemson’s tournament games.