This is the third Clemson team in history to produce a winning record in ACC road games
Winning on the road is not an easy thing for anyone in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Winning consistently is even harder.
In its 113 years of playing basketball, Clemson has done neither of them very well.
Prior to this season, the last time Clemson posted a winning record on the road in ACC play came during the 1986-'87 season. That year, Horace Grant and those Tigers posted a 5-2 record on the road.
Until this season, that was the standard at Clemson. It is not the standard anymore.
This year's Tigers are the new standard when it comes to ACC road wins. Thanks to Saturday's 79-69 victory at SMU, Clemson improved to 7-1 in conference road games.
It marked the Tigers' sixth consecutive ACC road win, a new school record.
What's different about this Clemson team on the road compared to any of the last few teams under head coach Brad Brownell?
"I don't know," Brownell said honestly.
In each of the last two seasons, the Tigers posted 5-5 marks in ACC road games. Those are good metrics by any team. It's great when compared to Clemson's standards.
Prior to this season, Clemson posted just two winning records in ACC road games, ever. The aforementioned 1986-'87 team (5-2) and the 1976-'77 Tree Rollins led Tigers, which went 4-2.
But this year's Tigers are just not winning on the road, they are dominating. Six of Clemson's seven road wins in conference play are by 10 or more points, including a 26-point win at Florida State and a 15-point win at Virginia Tech.
"I think this team is a little bit better defensively than last year's on a consistent basis," Brownell said. "That probably helps us a little bit because we are getting a few more stops."
Brownell is correct. This year's team is a little bit better defensively.
Case in point, Clemson forced 16 SMU turnovers on Saturday, which turned into 18 points on the offensive end. Of those 16 turnovers, nine were steals.
The Tigers also had five blocked shots in the win.
"Beyond (defense), I do not know if I have an answer for you," Brownell said about what makes his team so good away from Littlejohn Coliseum. "Last year's team played well at times on the road for sure. We had a couple of games there in early January where we were kind of scuffling a little bit with Miami and Virginia Tech. But we rebounded nicely more towards the end."
Clemson has two more ACC road games remaining before getting into conference tournament play. The Tigers play at Virginia on March 1 and at Boston College on March 5.
-- photo by Jerome Miron-Imagn Images