K.J. McDaniels responds to first start with breakout game

BLACKSBURG, Va. — When K.J. McDaniels has flashed his immense athleticism, he has been the most intriguing of Clemson’s large group of freshmen.

Saturday was one of those days.

The Tigers’ freshman guard got his first career start and cashed in, scoring a career-high 14 points, grabbing five rebounds and making five blocks in Clemson’s 67-65 loss at Virginia Tech.

Although the day was dimmed by his missing a pair of potential game-tying free throws with 3.3 seconds left, he impressed coach Brad Brownell and earned more playing time for Tuesday’s visit from Maryland.

“He earned time for the next game,” Brownell said. “It depends on how he handles himself how much he keeps playing going forward.”

While playing through ankle pain, McDaniels showed athleticism and toughness, scoring six of Clemson’s final 10 points. The Tigers finished the game on a 15-3 run.

“I felt like it went well,” he said. “My ankle is kind of messed up. I had the mindset to go out there and play as hard as I could.”

Brownell loved his toughness.

“Last week, he was having ankle issues, wasn’t practicing well, missed practice, was gimpy and feeling sorry for himself,” he said. “It got to the point, basically, of being in or out. Do you want to play or not? If so you better play and better quit talking about your ankle.

“He had a great practice two days ago, one of his best of the year, and followed up with a pretty solid practice yesterday. He earned the right to start.”

McDaniels entered averaging 3.2 points in nine minutes per game.

He was impressive early on, flying for a two-hand baseline dunk, grabbing a loose ball out of a scramble and alertly tossing it to start a fast break, and making an athletic block.

Late in the half, McDaniels provided Clemson’s biggest highlight. After a short miss, he skied over a pair of Hokie defenders and rammed it home tomahawk-style with his left hand.

“It gets me going, my energy going, running faster, doing a lot of extra things,” he said of the early success. “Those are helping me out a lot.”

He started over fellow freshman T.J. Sapp, who made his ninth start of the season Tuesday against Virginia. Sapp entered Saturday in a prolonged shooting slump. Over his last five games, the freshman guard had made just two of his last 20 shots, including one of his last 11 3-pointers.

Both are trying to fill the void left by junior forward Milton Jennings, who is serving an indefinite suspension for academic issues. Jennings isn’t practicing or traveling with the Tigers, and Brownell said he must meet unspecified conditions before returning.

It’s part of college basketball,” Brownell said Friday. “If you’re about doing things the right way, hold your kids accountable, you’re going to have these situations. I think there’s a lot of coaches that wouldn’t discipline kids for some of the things that happen, they wouldn’t take them out of a game. I just believe at times you’ve got to sit kids down. “You’ve got to make them understand it’s a privilege to be part of the program.

“When you don’t do things you’ve got to do all the time, there’s going to be consequences. Sometimes those consequences are going to be to take you out of a game.”

Sullivan steps up: Freshman forward Bernard Sullivan was hailed as one of the nation’s top 20 forward prospects when he signed with Clemson, but his progress has been slowed by a battle with asthma.

Sullivan showed signs of breaking out Saturday. He had seven points and four rebounds in nine minutes.

“I think it’s the confidence and my asthma getting better,” said Sullivan, who has been using a mix of medications and a breathing machine. “I’m getting sustained and playing as hard as I can. Every time I go out there, it’s an opportunity to play as hard as I can, make plays and help my team.”

Sullivan said he is using a mix of Advair and Alavert, and trying to wean himself off a breathing machine he uses before games. Brownell said he “still tires quickly, but he’s light-years ahead of where he was first semester.”

That helps Sullivan give better energy, which has become his primary role.

“I just wanted to come off the bench, give my team a spark, help the best I could,” he said. “When you come off the bench you’re expected to be an energy guy. When I came off, I wanted to make sure I brought that energy to get our team going.”