ATLANTA, GEORGIA - NOVEMBER 9: Emory Williams #17 of the Miami Hurricanes warms up prior to the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium on November 9, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)
Will Wade Revealed Smart Schematic Change That Helped McNeese Catch Clemson Off-Guard..
In the first major upset of this year’s NCAA tournament, No. 12 McNeese State stunned No. 5 Clemson in a 69–67 victory to clinch its first tournament win in program history Thursday afternoon.
Led by coach Will Wade, who will reportedly take over NC State’s basketball program next season, the Cowboys held off a last-minute Tigers rally to march ahead to the Round of 32 where they’ll face No. 4 Purdue on Saturday.
How exactly did Wade orchestrate McNeese’s most important win in school history? The 42-year-old coach shared a smart defensive change he made before the game that may have proved pivotal to the Cowboys’ underdog victory.
Wade spoke with John Fanta after Thursday’s win and revealed that even though the Cowboys had been playing man defense for the entire year, he switched to zone against Clemson:
“You had to junk it up,” Wade said. “You let [Clemson coach Brad Brownell] just run his plays, he’s a phenomenal coach. We went man out of—we ended up switching man out of the zone look after a certain amount of passes. … We had put it in for the conference tournament and we just didn’t use it in the conference tournament.
“We’d kinda been saving it. We thought it would catch them off-guard, it certainly caught them off-guard in the first half which allowed us to build up the margin that we needed to withstand, then pin their ears back at the end.”
McNeese State closed out the first half with a commanding 31–13 lead, in part due to resilient defense and in part due to guard Brandon Murray, who scored 14 of his 21 points during that span.
Clemson, held to just 13 points, made unwanted March Madness history having put together the worst first-half performance by an ACC team in the men’s NCAA tournament since 2001.
Wade, a well-known Clemson fan and alum, has won 57 games over his last two seasons at McNeese and boasts a generally impressive coaching résumé over the last decade, save for being fired from LSU after the 2021–22 season due to recruiting violations.
CLEMSON, S.C. – The No. 67 Syracuse women’s tennis team (8-7, 1-7 ACC) fell to Clemson (13-5, 3-3 ACC), 4-2 at the Duckworth Family Tennis Facility Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers led early against the Orange after taking the doubles point victory. Monika Wojcik secured a win against her opponent at the No. 6 position which tied the match 1-1. Shortly after, Clemson took the lead again after claiming a win at the No. 5 position.
No. 107 Miyuka Kimoto tied the match for the second time 2-2, but Syracuse could not find the final push to tally a win for the Orange.
THE RUNDOWN
Nelly Knezkova and Shiori Ito appeared at the No.1 doubles position this afternoon against the Tigers. This was the pairing’s sixth time playing together.
At the No. 2 spot in doubles play, Kimoto was paired with Anastasia Sysoeva. The match was tied 5-5 before it was declared unfinished after the doubles point was clinched at the No. 3 position.
No. 107 Kimoto defeated Amelie Smejkalova winning 6-2, 6-2. Kimoto tied the match 2-2 after this victory.
Wojcik added her 10th win in singles play for the Orange after securing a win over Gaia Parravicini with a 6-3, 6-2 result.
Sysoeva entered a third set against Romana Cisovska at the No.4 position. Sysoeva won the first set, 7-5, lost in the second, 6-4, then was tied 2-2 in the third before the match was determined unfinished.
No. 124 Sophia Hatton clinched the match for Clemson after defeating Knezkova at the No. 1 spot in a reverse sweep.
Clemson took the lead in the all-time series now ahead 6-5 against Syracuse.
UP NEXT
Syracuse returns home to face Virginia Tech at Drumlins Country Club on Friday, April 4 at 3 p.m.
RESULTS
Singles
No. 124 Sophia Hatton (CU) def. Nelly Knezkova (SYR) 5-7, 6-0, 6-1
No. 107 Miyuka Kimoto (SYR) def. Amelie Smejkalova (CU) 6-2, 6-2
Annabelle Davis (CU) def. Serafima Shastova (SYR) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1
Romana Cisovska (CU) vs. Anastasia Sysoeva (SYR) 5-7, 6-4, 2-2, unfinished
Artemis Aslanisvili (CLEM) def. Shiori Ito (SYR) 6-1, 6-3
Monika Wojcik (SYR) def. Gaia Parravicini (CU) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles
Gaia Parra/Amelie Smejkalova (CU) def. Nelly Knezkova/Shiori Ito (SYR) 6-3
Anastasia Sysoeva/Miyuka Kimoto (SYR) vs. Candela Yecora/Romana Cisovska (CU) 5-5, unfinished
Annabelle Davis/Sophia Hatton (CU) def. No. 75 Serafima Shastova/Monika Wojcik (SYR) 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,5,2,3,1)
