No. 14 North Carolina eked out an 89-86 overtime win at Clemson on Tuesday night, marking the program's 19th win in 20 games against the Tigers.
But after an interesting and erratic game, Clemson coach Brad Brownell was visibly heated and had some words -- and finger-pointing -- for UNC coach Roy Williams in the postgame handshake line. You can see Williams appearing to apologize to Brownell as Brownell continues to give Carolina's Hall of Fame coach a piece of his mind.
Clemson coach Brad Brownell with some words for Roy Williams. Roy appears to be apologizing. pic.twitter.com/oztnXg7Vc1
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) January 4, 2017
The reason for the outburst? Brownell was reportedly irked by the fact that UNC senior Kennedy Meeks was trash-talking throughout the game, including making comments toward Clemson's bench.
I'm told Kennedy Meeks was yelling at Clemson's bench and that's why Brownell was giving Roy the business. Roy apologized, apparently.
— Larry Williams (@LarryWilliamsTI) January 4, 2017
In his press conference afterward, Roy Williams neglected to shed light on the scuffle, instead opting to keep it between the coaches and vowing to "take care of it."
An interesting and unusual turn of events. Brownell is known as a pretty level-headed coach, and he's not much a confrontational personality. Tuesday was Clemson's first loss at home since early last February.
As for the rest of the game game, UNC point guard Joel Berry had a career night, scoring 31 points on 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point range. Meeks had some room to talk, as he finished with a double-double (16 rebounds, 14 points).
Clemson's last win over UNC came in January 2010. The Tigers are not scheduled to play UNC again this season, meaning the only time these teams would meet again is if the bracket breaks that way in the ACC tournament.
