What happened with Dillon Hunter in final seconds of Clemson vs UNC basketball
CLEMSON — Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell thought Dillon Hunter made the best of a bad situation.
With Clemson trailing by three vs. No. 18 North Carolina with 10 seconds remaining, Hunter was anticipating Butta Johnson or Jestin Porter would get open for three after two other Tigers set off-ball screens.
However, UNC defenders switched on the screens. This caused Hunter to inbound the ball just before a five-second violation to Carter Welling, who gave the ball back to Hunter. Instead of shooting a 3-pointer to tie the game, the senior guard opted to drive to the paint.
Hunter missed a contested layup, where UNC's Luka Bogavac made contact with him but no foul was called, then missed the ensuing tip-in.
Clemson lost 67-63 to North Carolina at Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on March 3.
"Dillon made a good play to try and go ahead," Brownell said. "You could go for three, but it wasn't bad because, I guess, he didn't feel comfortable. Go get a quick two. If he makes the first layup, there's still probably five seconds left, and we could've fouled them again and had a chance to go the length if they don't do something."
The Tigers (21-9, 11-6 ACC) have lost five of their last six games and failed to clinch an ACC Tournament double bye . Now, Clemson will need help from other conference teams in order to earn extra time off in the ACC Tournament, which runs from March 10-14 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Tigers also need to beat Georgia Tech in their regular-season finale on March 7 (noon ET, ACC Network) to cement their third straight March Madness bid .
"This was a missed opportunity," Brownell said.
Clemson lost to North Carolina (24-6, 12-5) despite RJ Godfrey scoring a career-high 22 points. UNC had no answers for him as he dominated the paint and even made his second 3-pointer this season (eighth of his career).
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However, the Tigers went away from him in the final five minutes. He had only one attempt and went to the free throw line to make 1 of 2.
Clemson also did not contain UNC's 3-point scorers. The Tar Heels made 12 threes, tied for the second most they made in a game this season. Six of them came from Bogavac, who made back-to-back 3-pointers when North Carolina trailed with under six minutes left to give UNC an insurmountable lead.
Clemson made seven 3-pointers.
"(Bogavac) was the difference in the game," Brownell said. "I'm disappointed because we talked about it in a couple of timeouts. Like, they're going to go to him, and he's an outstanding shooter on the turn."
Despite enduring a rough stretch to end the season, including four straight losses in February, the Tigers are confident they are playing considerably better with tournament play coming.
"We're finding our groove back, getting our swagger back, our mojo back," Godfrey said to local reporters postgame. "We're going to be good at the right time."
Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at DCarter@usatodayco.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Clemson vs UNC basketball, Dillon Hunter's last play explained
