What Clemson coach Brad Brownell said about Nick Davidson's explosion

Few people in college basketball have done what Clemson Tigers senior Nick Davidson did on Tuesday night against Boston College.

Davidson, a transfer senior from Nevada, scored 21 straight points for Clemson beginning at the 12:10 mark of the first half as the Tigers erased a 15-11 deficit. By the time Davidson's 21-point streak in a span of almost 10 minutes of game time came to a close, Clemson led Boston College, 32-24.

The Tigers never looked back in a 74-50 rout of the Eagles, their eighth consecutive win. Clemson is ranked No. 21 in this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the AP Top 25 poll.

After the game, coach Brad Brownell was the first to say Clemson needed Davidson's performance.

"He's been playing well," Brownell said. "His shooting has been much improved as you watch him in practice every day. But to make 21 points in a row and to knock all those 3's down, we needed them."

Davidson made eight of his 11 shots from the field, including four of six from 3-point range.

"We were probably a little off-kilter just at times (early) and had some guys miss some shots," Brownell said. "Sometimes our guys were getting fouled. It feels like we should get an and-one and we get one free throw, and that's a big difference in three."

The game was never in doubt after Davidson's surge carried Clemson to a 37-27 halftime lead after the Tigers closed the half on a 21-11 run. Clemson would lead by as many as 25 points in the second half, and the Tigers held top Boston College scorer Donald Hand Jr., the ACC's Most Improved Player a season ago, scoreless.

"Good win," Brownell said. "Thought our guys grinded away in the second half and kept them at bay, which was good"

Here's what else Brownell had to say after the Tigers improved to 15-3 overall and 5-0 in ACC play.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell on Nick Davidson turning a corner after 25-point game

Davidson's 25 points were a season-high, eclipsing his 18-point performance in Clemson's win over Gardner-Webb in the second game of the season on Nov. 7. He finished one point shy of his career-high 26 points, which came last year in Nevada's season-opening win over Sam Houston State.

Brownell said after Tuesday's game:

"I think he's played a lot better than most people realize because he does a lot of things. He passes the ball. He's one of our best defensive communicators and leaders. Handles the ball against the press. He does a lot of things that probably go unnoticed a little bit in a game. Our team is just different. (Jestin Porter) doesn't score much tonight, and obviously Nick Davidson has 25.

"So when you're Boston College, it's like, 'Damn, didn't see that one coming.' But that's what our team is like. We have different guys that can make some plays, and thankfully that's what our strength is. I just think (Davidson) has played pretty well here recently, and he just maybe hasn't scored as much. Some games there just aren't opportunities. Today, though, he had a lot of opportunities and showed he's a good player."

'We needed it': What Clemson coach Brad Brownell saw from Nick Davidson during explosive stretch

"It's funny. I need to watch it to see what happened. Obviously a bunch of them were 3's. He just kept being kind of wide open and then he felt pretty good, so he drove it once and scored. He got it in the post once and scored. He did all the things you need to do to do that. And at the time, we needed it, right? They were right there with us. I thought their team played really hard, and they're good defensively. They're physical. They've got size. The guards have quickness. Obviously, (Boston College coach Earl Grant) does a good job. They're very well-schooled in the fundamentals and they compete and rebounded. So yeah, we needed some of that to help loosen things up."

Watch Brad Brownell's full postgame press conference after Clemson's 74-50 win over Boston College.

Clemson basketball schedule 2026

Clemson remains home this weekend and will take on a Miami Hurricanes team that's also playing some of the best basketball in the ACC. Miami (15-2 overall, 4-0 conference) has won 10 straight contests after its 81-69 victory at Notre Dame on Tuesday.

The Hurricanes visit Littlejohn Coliseum Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET. Clemson-Miami will be televised on The CW.

Here's a look at the Tigers' full 2025-26 schedule.

All start times Eastern.

Nov. 3: vs. New Hampshire (W, 88-38)

Nov. 7: vs. Gardner-Webb (W, 97-59)

Nov. 11: vs. Morehead State (W, 83-56)

Nov. 15: at Georgetown (L, 79-74)

Nov. 17: vs. North Alabama (W, 81-61)

Nov. 21: vs. West Virginia (W, 70-67)

Nov. 23: vs. Georgia (W, 97-94, OT)

Nov. 28: vs. Alabama A&M (W, 92-56)

Dec. 3: at Alabama (L, 90-84)

Dec. 9 vs. BYU (L, 67-64)

Dec. 13: vs. Mercer (W, 70-63)

Dec. 16: vs. South Carolina (W, 68-61)

Dec. 21: vs. Cincinnati (W, 68-65)

Dec. 31: at Syracuse (W, 64-61)

Jan. 3: at Pittsburgh (W, 73-680)

Jan. 7: vs. SMU (W, 74-70)

Jan. 10: at Notre Dame (W, 76-61)

Jan. 13: vs. Boston College (W, 74-50)

Jan. 17: vs. Miami, 2:15 p.m., The CW

Jan. 20: vs. NC State, 7 p.m., The CW

Jan. 24: at Georgia Tech, noon, The CW

Jan. 31: vs. Pittsburgh, noon, ACC Network

Feb. 4: at Stanford, 10 p.m., ACC Network

Feb. 7: at California, 8 p.m., ACC Network

Feb. 11: vs. Virginia Tech, 7 p.m., ACC Network

Feb. 14: at Duke, noon, ESPN

Feb. 18: at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network

Feb. 21: Florida State, noon, TBD

Feb. 28: vs. Louisville, TBD

March 3: at North Carolina, 7 p.m., TBD

March 7: vs. Georgia Tech, noon, ACC Network

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This article originally appeared on Clemson Wire: Clemson coach Brad Brownell speaks out after win over Boston College