March Madness 2025: No. 5 Clemson narrowly misses tying infamous NCAA tournament record in loss to McNeese

Clemson came incredibly close to setting an NCAA tournament record with its awful performance in the first half of its loss to McNeese on Thursday.

The No. 5 Tigers trailed No. 12 McNeese 31-13 at halftime and were just one point away from tying the tournament record for the fewest points by a single team in a half. Wisconsin holds the record in the shot clock era with just 12 first-half points in its 1999 game against Missouri State. The Badgers trailed that game 21-12 at halftime in a matchup that featured the fewest combined points in a half with a shot clock in tournament history.

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Clemson was just 5-of-24 shooting and 1-of-15 from the 3-point line. Jaeden Zackery was the only Clemson player who made more than one basket and three players failed to make a shot despite multiple attempts.

On the bright side, Clemson made both of its free throws.

The Tigers woke up in the second half, but it was too little too late. Clemson scored 54 points in the second half and closed to within a possession in the waning seconds but McNeese put the game away at the foul line.

The first-half futility came as the Tigers also committed 10 turnovers. McNeese sped up Clemson over the first 20 minutes and Clemson was so rattled that it was even missing open shots near the basket.

In case you were wondering, the tournament record for the fewest points in a game came long before the shot clock was implemented in college basketball in 1985. Pitt beat North Carolina 26-20 in a game during the 1941 tournament and it’s safe to say that record won’t be threatened anytime soon.