Tigers must mend broken hearts

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Just days before Valentine's Day, the irony is amazing. Clemson and its fans had a chance to be shot by Cupid's arrow on Sunday; instead they were left with a broken heart.The Tigers blew a 15-point lead in the second half and lost in double overtime to run their record to 0-53 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The extent of that crushing blow is not only lingering past Sunday, it's dominating everyone's thoughts.I received a call from a Tiger fan on Monday afternoon that summed it all up. The woman told me it was a game "just too hard to watch."To start, there was a horrific free-throw disparity (Clemson 1-for-7; UNC 31-for-36) that caused many to blame the referees.There was the Tigers' lack of execution in the final four minutes. Clemson looked more like the guy that forgot where he parked his car at the mall than a Division I basketball team.Throw in the fact that UNC's Tyler Hansbrough dominated inside -- putting up 39 points -- and that Clemson came up empty in the final possession of both regulation and the first overtime, and it's easy to see why there's so much uneasiness in Tiger Nation.It was the game we'll remember as Clemson's best chance.But it remains hard to assess blame. Yes, foul-line disparity seemed a bit strange, but UNC pounded it down low, and Clemson was running its offense from the 3-point line.Not to mention there's no way the Tigers thought they'd get more calls in the Dean Dome. Also, Clemson might want to thank UNC for not sending them to the line more often. More trips to the line would've meant less easy baskets in transition or 3-point shots that were falling early and often.And of course there's history. The 53 straight losses to an ACC rival had to be playing into the Tigers' head in the final minutes, right? I mean, if Clemson fans believe in curses, then maybe the Tigers turn into the Chicago Cubs every trip to Chapel Hill.But there's more to it. While I don't think the record came into play down the stretch, it's likely Clemson remembered who it was playing, and the importance may have been too much to handle.Now Tigers coach Oliver Purnell must convince his team to leave all that under the bridge. That pesky demon is done for another year and the Tar Heels are off the schedule, at least until the ACC Tournament, meaning Thursday's game against Georgia Tech now becomes the most important of the season.While Clemson (17-6 and in fourth place in the ACC with a 5-4 league mark) has proved getting over the hump when facing the big boys might be a bit much, there's still too many important games left to think about it.I don't know how you overcome the loss at UNC, but if you don't, March will be a lot tougher, and the offseason could be even worse.Thursday will have to be the end of heartache or else another spiral could begin.(Contact Brad Senkiw of the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C., at www.andersonsc.com.)