Clemson narrowly missed out on a trip to the ACC title game on Friday night, and they may have somewhere to point the finger.
The Tigers trailed Louisville, ranked 10th and 13th, respectively, 33-28 at the half on Friday in Charlotte, and both teams headed to the locker room.
There was just one problem, though: Clemson’s locker room wouldn’t open.
The players were locked out for several minutes, and head coach Brad Brownell had to address his team from the halls of Spectrum Center.
Brownell said that nothing like that had ever happened “at this level.”
“It’s disappointing, obviously,” he added.
An ACC spokesperson said it is unclear how the door, which locks from the inside, wound up getting locked. The conference posts a security guard outside every locker room for every game, and there had never been any incidents reported before.
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The ACC did add two minutes to halftime, but it seemed apparent that Clemson was at least a bit flustered to start the second half. They eventually fell behind by 15 after going more than six minutes without a field goal.
The Tigers finally got some momentum and cut the lead to two with a furious rally and had a chance to take the lead after Louisville was called for a shot clock violation.
But James Scott blocked Hunter’s drive after switching off his man, Chucky Hepburn made one of two free throws with six seconds left to make a three-point game, and Chase Hunter’s leaning three-point shot from 25 feet at the buzzer missed.
Terrence Edwards scored 21 points, J’Vonne Hadley added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Cardinals. They will have to go against top-ranked Duke, who squeaked by longtime rival UNC in the semifinal without Cooper Flagg in order to get their first conference title.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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