CHARLOTTE, NC - WHEW! The drawback of having a bye or, in this case, a double-bye in the conference tournament is that your team is coming in cold against a team with confidence that just won a game on the very same court. I've seen it a hundred times, so I wasn't surprised that the Tigers struggled against SMU on Thursday night. They shot poorly, going just going just 3-15 from the arc at one point, and Viktor only played 18 minutes due to foul trouble. He played 11 minutes in the first half and picked up his 3rd foul within a minute of the second half. Brownell brought him back in with about 9 minutes left and, again, he picked up his 4th foul in less than a minute! To make matters worse, Dillon Hunter left the game with an injury, likely a broken finger or hand.
However, great teams find a way to win when things aren't going their way, and that's exactly what the Tigers did. They led throughout the first half but trailed most of the second half. In the end, Chase was the difference, stepping up with 21 points. Fortunately for the Tigers, the usually good-shooting Mustangs shot even worse from the arc, going 1-14!
I expect that the Tigers will play much better on Friday night against Louisville, but Viktor will have to find a way to stay on the court if they are going to win. He had the same issue in the Tigers' only ACC road loss at Louisville early in the season. With the best player in the country, Duke's Cooper Flagg, injured, this might be the best chance the Tigers have ever had to win an ACC Tournament, so the stakes are high on Friday night! The post-game press conference and highlights are below!
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