Clemson forward Milton Jennings believes a few whistles somewhat altered the outcome of his team’s ACC Tournament loss to Virginia Tech.
“We got a flagrant foul for posting up? I’m pretty sure that’s the first time that ever happened,” said Jennings, who scored 13 points in the 68-63 loss. “And then Tanner’s taking a wide-open three and Hudson clearly comes and slaps his arm. I know the whole gym heard it. He air-balls a three, I know he got fouled.
“I’m just harping on the calls that were made, I just don’t think down the stretch it went the right way or at all were fair. I think it kinda took the wind out of our team.”
These are obviously the frustrations of a player who just saw his season come to an end in the first round of a conference tournament. Coupled with the fact that Clemson and Virginia Tech have scrapped through three closely-contested games over the past few months, it is obvious why Jennings was upset in the locker room. Players openly admitted postgame that they were none too happy to see that particular matchup in the first round, and losing to a team you have battled so closely all year is a tough way to go out.
Jennings, however, did clarify his statements by saying that the officials were not to blame for the loss.
"But nonetheless, we shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place,” he said. "We should’ve got those boards. We should’ve kept them off the boards. We should’ve played much better than we did."
