Clemson’s Disastrous March Madness Start vs. McNeese State Summed Up by One Brutal Stat

After a rough season for the ACC, No. 5 seed Clemson was considered the league’s best hope for a deep run outside of top-seed Duke. There’s still plenty of time left, but the Tigers got off to about as bad of a start as possible in their first-round game against No. 12 McNeese State on Thursday afternoon.

Clemson trailed 31–13 at the half, after hitting just 1-of-15 three-point attempts and turning the ball over 10 times. According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, it marked the worst first-half performance for a men’s NCAA tournament for an ACC team since 2001.

Clemson’s second half has been a bit more fruitful, but they’re still trailing McNeese 48–29 with just over nine minutes remaining in the contest. To pour salt on the wound a bit, McNeese coach Will Wade is a Clemson alum (and a diehard Tigers football fan), and just landed a new job for the 2025–26 season … at Clemson’s ACC rival NC State. The winner of Thursday’s game will take on No. 4 Purdue, which beat No. 13 High Point 75–63 earlier Thursday. Right now, it looks like McNeese could be an early potential Cinderella, while Clemson could be the second ACC team out of the bracket before the Thursday night slate after Louisville’s loss to Creighton on Thursday afternoon.