# 2018–19 Clemson Tigers men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Clemson Tigers men's basketball team represented Clemson University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by ninth-year head coach Brad Brownell, the Tigers played their home games at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
They finished the season 20–14, 9–9 in ACC Play to finish a tie for 8th place. They lost in the second round of the ACC tournament to NC State. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Wright State in the first round before losing in the second round to Wichita State.

## Previous season

The Tigers finished the 2017–18 season 25–10, 11–7 in ACC play to finish in a four-way tie for third place. They defeated Boston College in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament before losing in the semifinals to Virginia. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated New Mexico State and Auburn to advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen. The Tigers 25 wins tied the most in program history and their 11 conference wins are the most in program history.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Mark Donnal | 5 | F/C | 6'9" | 240 | Graduate | Monclova, OH | Graduated |
| Gabe DeVoe | 10 | G | 6'3" | 207 | Senior | Shelby, NC | Graduated |
| Isaac Fields | 11 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Sophomore | Pewee Valley, KY | None Given |
| Scott Spencer | 22 | G | 6'6" | 190 | Sophomore | Suffolk, VA | Transferred to LaSalle |
| Donte Grantham | 32 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Senior | Martinsburg, WV | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Jonathan Baehre | 1 | F | 6'10" | 190 | RS Sophomore | Hessen, Germany | UNC Asheville |
| Javan White | 35 | F | 6'10" | 230 | Graduate Student | Ames, IA | Oral Roberts |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| John Newman III SG | Greensboro, NC | Greensboro Day | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 23, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Hunter Tyson SF | Monroe, NC | Piedmont Community Charter | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 25, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Trey Jemison PF | Birmingham, AL | Hoover High School | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 245 lb (111 kg) | Oct 25, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NA Rivals: 70 ESPN: NA ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Clemson Tigers". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 13, 2018. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 13, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 27, 2018* 5:00 pm | No. 22 | at UNC Wilmington Hurricane Florence Relief | W 78–67 | – | 20 – Simms | 7 – Mitchell | 4 – Reed | Trask Coliseum (4,142) Wilmington, NC |
| November 1, 2018* 7:00 pm | No. 22 | Barton | W 89–80 | – | 29 – Reed | 10 – Skara | 3 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum Clemson, SC |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 22 | The Citadel | W 100–80 | 1–0 | 20 – Reed | 13 – Reed | 4 – Reed | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,491) Clemson, SC |
| November 9, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 22 | North Carolina Central | W 71–51 | 2–0 | 16 – Skara | 6 – White | 5 – Reed | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,208) Clemson, SC |
| November 14, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | No. 19 | Sam Houston State Cayman Islands Classic campus site game | W 74–59 | 3–0 | 26 – Reed | 8 – Simms | 4 – Mitchell | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,227) Clemson, SC |
| November 19, 2018* 11:00 am, Stadium | No. 16 | vs. Akron Cayman Islands Classic Quarterfinals | W 72–69 | 4–0 | 22 – Mitchell | 12 – Thomas | 3 – Tied | John Gray Gymnasium (1,050) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 20, 2018* 2:30 pm, Stadium | No. 16 | vs. Georgia Cayman Islands Classic Semifinals | W 64–49 | 5–0 | 24 – Reed | 11 – Thomas | 3 – Reed | John Gray Gymnasium (786) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 21, 2018* 7:30 pm, Stadium | No. 16 | vs. Creighton Cayman Islands Classic Final | L 82–87 | 5–1 | 27 – Reed | 11 – Skara | 3 – Tied | John Gray Gymnasium (1,709) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| November 26, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Nebraska ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 66–68 | 5–2 | 16 – Thomas | 8 – Simms | 3 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,974) Clemson, SC |
| December 04, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | St. Peter's | W 65–60 | 6–2 | 21 – Reed | 12 – Thomas | 3 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,254) Clemson, SC |
| December 8, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 22 Mississippi State Never Forget Tribute Classic | L 71–82 | 6–3 | 23 – Simms | 8 – Thomas | 7 – Mitchell | Prudential Center (7,142) Newark, NJ |
| December 15, 2018* 3:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Radford | W 74–66 | 7–3 | 20 – Mitchell | 9 – Thomas | 2 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,225) Clemson, SC |
| December 18, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | Charleston Southern | W 78–51 | 8–3 | 25 – Thomas | 14 – Thomas | 6 – Mitchell | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,757) Clemson, SC |
| December 22, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at South Carolina Rivalry | W 78–68 | 9–3 | 20 – Reed | 8 – Skara | 4 – Reed | Colonial Life Arena (12,269) Columbia, SC |
| December 30, 2018* 4:00 pm, ACCRSN | | Lipscomb | W 84–67 | 10–3 | 26 – Reed | 8 – Tied | 5 – Reed | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,879) Clemson, SC |
| ACC regular season |||||||||
| January 5, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 1 Duke | L 68–87 | 10–4 (0–1) | 15 – Reed | 10 – Simms | 8 – Reed | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| January 9, 2019 8:00 pm, Raycom | | at Syracuse | L 53–61 | 10–5 (0–2) | 16 – Reed | 7 – Thomas | 3 – Tied | Carrier Dome (17,289) Syracuse, NY |
| January 12, 2019 12:00 pm, Raycom | | No. 4 Virginia | L 43–63 | 10–6 (0–3) | 14 – Reed | 12 – Thomas | 1 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (9,424) Clemson, SC |
| January 16, 2019 9:00 pm, ACCRSN | | Georgia Tech | W 72–60 | 11–6 (1–3) | 30 – Reed | 9 – Thomas | 9 – Mitchell | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,693) Clemson, SC |
| January 22, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Florida State | L 68–77 | 11–7 (1–4) | 18 – Simms | 11 – Thomas | 5 – Thomas | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (8,502) Tallahassee, FL |
| January 26, 2019 2:00 pm, Raycom | | at No. 21 NC State | L 67–69 | 11–8 (1–5) | 19 – Reed | 8 – Reed | 2 – Reed | PNC Arena (18,180) Raleigh, NC |
| January 29, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Pittsburgh | W 82–69 | 12–8 (2–5) | 26 – Reed | 7 – Skara | 5 – Mitchell | Littlejohn Coliseum (6,474) Clemson, SC |
| February 3, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Wake Forest | W 64–37 | 13–8 (3–5) | 23 – Thomas | 10 – Thomas | 4 – Reed | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,655) Clemson, SC |
| February 6, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCRSN | | at Georgia Tech | W 65–42 | 14–8 (4–5) | 19 – Reed | 8 – Skara | 4 – Skara | McCamish Pavilion (5,636) Atlanta, GA |
| February 9, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 11 Virginia Tech | W 59–51 | 15–8 (5–5) | 22 – Mitchell | 9 – Thomas | 4 – Reed | Littlejohn Coliseum (9,000) Clemson, SC |
| February 13, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Miami | L 64–65 | 15–9 (5–6) | 19 – Reed | 9 – Thomas | 2 – Mitchell | Watsco Center (6,338) Coral Gables, FL |
| February 16, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 16 Louisville | L 55–56 | 15–10 (5–7) | 15 – Thomas | 12 – Reed | 2 – Tied | KFC Yum! Center (16,043) Louisville, KY |
| February 19, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | No. 16 Florida State | L 64–77 | 15–11 (5–8) | 20 – Reed | 6 – Thomas | 6 – Mitchell | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,549) Clemson, SC |
| February 23, 2019 12:00 pm, ACCRSN | | Boston College | W 76–66 | 16–11 (6–8) | 31 – Reed | 10 – Thomas | 4 – Reed | Littlejohn Coliseum (7,810) Clemson, SC |
| February 27, 2019 7:00 pm, ACCRSN | | at Pittsburgh | W 62–48 | 17–11 (7–8) | 14 – Reed | 8 – Thomas | 5 – Thomas | Peterson Events Center (6,102) Pittsburgh, PA |
| March 2, 2019 6:00 p.m., ESPN | | No. 5 North Carolina | L 79–81 | 17–12 (7–9) | 24 – Reed | 11 – Thomas | 3 – 3 tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (9,248) Clemson, SC |
| March 6, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Notre Dame | W 64–62 | 18–12 (8–9) | 22 – Reed | 8 – Thomas | 4 – Skara | Joyce Center (8,158) South Bend, IN |
| March 9, 2019 12:00 pm, CBS | | Syracuse | W 67–55 | 19–12 (9–9) | 24 – Reed | 11 – Thomas | 5 – Simms | Littlejohn Coliseum (8,620) Clemson, SC |
| ACC tournament |||||||||
| March 13, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN | (9) | vs. (8) NC State Second Round | L 58–59 | 19–13 | 16 – Reed | 10 – Reed | 6 – Reed | Spectrum Center Charlotte, NC |
| NIT |||||||||
| March 19, 2019* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | (2) | (7) Wright State First Round – Indiana Bracket | W 75–69 | 20–13 | 24 – Reed | 9 – Skara | 4 – Reed | Littlejohn Coliseum (1,718) Clemson, SC |
| March 24, 2019* 2:00 pm, ESPN | (2) | (6) Wichita State Second Round – Indiana Bracket | L 55–63 | 20–14 | 18 – Reed | 8 – Thomas | 1 – Tied | Littlejohn Coliseum (3,266) Clemson, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 22 | 19 | 16 | RV | RV | — | — | | | | | | | | | RV | — | | RV | Not released |
| Coaches | 23 | 23^ | 16 | 24 | RV | — | — | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.