No. 12 seed McNeese State came out swinging and brought the fight to fifth-seeded Clemson in the first half of Thursday’s NCAA Tournament first-round matchup.

And the Tigers weren’t ready for that fight from the Cowboys, according to Clemson’s Chase Hunter.

Clemson did punch back in the second half, but the Tigers’ first-half woes proved too costly to overcome, and the end result was a 69-67 loss to McNeese in the Midwest Regional at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I.

“They probably played just a little bit harder at the beginning,” Hunter admitted after the game. “We weren’t really ready for a fight, I think – including me, including myself. I think I did a bad job of really leading this team and making sure we were ready for a fight. They were a little athletic, but we played a lot of teams in the ACC who were athletic. So, I think we weren’t ready for a fight today.”

Clemson (27-7) trailed by 18 points at halftime — its largest deficit this season in a first half — after scoring just 13 points in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers became only the second team seeded 5th or better to score 13 points or fewer in a first half of an NCAA Tournament game in the shot clock era (1986).

Clemson’s 13 first-half points marked the fewest by a Clemson team in a first half in its 29-game NCAA Tournament history, as the Tigers’ fewest prior to Thursday came in the 1990 Tournament.

McNeese (28-6) used a 19-2 run in the first half from the 14:35 mark to 6:57 to take control of a game it never relinquished. The run gave the Cowboys a 23-8 lead at the time.

The Tigers shot just 20.8 percent (5-24) from the field overall and 6.7 percent from 3-point range (1-15) in the opening half.

Clemson got good looks but couldn’t knock them down, and the frustration mounted with each missed shot.

“I think that’s kind of what hurt us – we got a little frustrated, lost some confidence when we needed to see some shots go in” Hunter said. “But we got a lot of open looks and we just missed them, and they did a good job of getting offensive rebounds and doing extra other things to help their team.”

Clemson trailed by as many 24 points in the second half before making another furious rally, but couldn’t overcome the big hole despite runs of 9-0 and 7-0 down the stretch.

Hunter, the Tigers’ leading scorer and a 2024 first-team All-ACC selection, was quiet for much of the game before coming alive late.

The senior guard was held scoreless until he hit two free throws with 10 minutes left in the second half, before finishing with 21 points as he helped lead Clemson’s comeback bid.

“It’s just how the game went, I think,” Hunter said of his slow start. “Obviously I want to get going early, but this is one of those games where my shot didn’t fall. And then I just had to make sure I stay in the game and make sure I’m leading these guys.”

Hunter took time to reflect on what the Tigers accomplished this season leading up to Thursday’s disappointing loss.

Clemson set new school records for wins in a season (27), ACC wins (18) and win percentage (.900) and ACC road wins (9). The Tigers finished the regular season with eight consecutive ACC wins – the previous mark of seven was set in 1966-67 and tied in 2022-23.

“Obviously this hurts, but no reason to hang our heads. We had a great season,” Hunter said. “Didn’t end how we wanted, but this team did a great job of just battling through adversity the whole year. It hurts that it’s over, but we’ve got to live with that.”