No giving up with these Tigers

CLEMSON - With an 11-12 record and less than a month to go in the regular season, Brad Brownell and his staff have a specific message for their team.

And it should probably be carbon-copied to the Clemson fans.

“We’re not giving up on you,” Brownell told reporters, when asked what he told his team after Tuesday night’s 64-62 loss to Maryland. “You can’t give up on the season.”

He added, “You’re playing well enough and competitive enough that this could turn our way.”

Five of the six ACC losses this season have seen the Tigers have lose by a combined total of 13 points. Tuesday night’s game was the third time in conference play that Clemson has lost by two points.

“We’re that close in one or two possession games,” said Devin Booker, who is second on the team 11 points per game.

Andre Young, the leading scorer, thinks the Tigers are a “good team,” despite their record.

“[We’ve] got to just find out what we need to do to be a great team,” he said. “Great teams do the little things, so we need to do the little things better -- box-out, get rebounds, be solid on the defensive end, continue to execute on the offensive end.”

Meanwhile, Clemson [11-12, 3-6 ACC] has seven games left on the schedule, including trips to Wake Forest, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Florida State. Remaining on the home slate are dates with Virginia, N.C. State and Virginia Tech.

“You’ve just got to keep grinding,” Brownell said. “It goes with the territory. Believe me, it’s not easy at all. When you’re putting as much time, energy and effort as we are and you come up short like this, it tests you.

“It’s easier when you get beat by 18 or 20. The other team plays great. You play bad. Sometimes, in coach axiom, you just burn the tape and you just kind of move on…to our kids’ credit, that really hasn’t happened in the league.”

Said Brownell: “It’s a test of our character, to see how we handle it and how we respond.”