Stitt decides to give sprained foot a rest

CLEMSON - The percentages finally fell out of Demontez Stitt's favor.

Stitt, admitting that he was operating at "about 50 percent" efficiency in the second half of Saturday's loss to Duke, said on Monday that he will sit out the Tigers' game tonight at Boston College as he continues to recover from a mid-foot sprain sustained on Jan. 16.

"I just felt like I couldn't go and give my all to the team, and when I feel like that, I should sit out," Stitt said. "In looking at the film (from Saturday's game), I could see that I was favoring that foot a lot more than I thought I was."

Stitt, a junior point guard, will be replaced by sophomore Andre Young, who will be making his first career start.

"It's a big loss for us, but we'll adjust accordingly," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. "It's a situation where your team has to close ranks even tighter and everybody's got to pitch in a little bit more in order to make up for that loss."

Clemson has lost consecutive games to slip to 3-3 in the ACC and on Monday afternoon fell out of the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Tigers, who are 15-5, remained ranked in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, dropping from No. 16 to No. 21.

While the Tigers will be without Stitt, Boston College (11-9, 2-4) is at full strength and playing well after overcoming injuries and lineup shuffling early in the season.

After losing to Clemson and Maryland by 16 points and to Duke by 20 in its previous three games, Boston College played much better last week. The Eagles won at Miami 79-75 and lost at Virginia Tech 63-62.

"They've shown a lot of resilience," Purnell said.

Boston College coach Al Skinner simply hopes the Eagles show something against Clemson, which owns four consecutive victories in the series, all by double figures.

"They beat us pretty handily the last time we played, so hopefully we'll be a little better prepared this time around," Skinner said. "We have to handle the ball well and have to do a better job in our half-court defense."

The absence of Stitt may make that task easier for the Eagles, who gave up 15 points and four assists to Stitt in the Tigers' 72-56 win on Jan. 9. Stitt is the team's second-leading scorer at 11 points per game.

"Hopefully this week of rest will help the healing process," said Stitt, who said his therapy includes foot exercises, icing, and running on a treadmill and in a pool. "I'm looking to come back (to practice) on Thursday."

Clemson will have a five-day break after tonight's game before hosting ACC co-leader Maryland on Sunday.

"We looked at it and said, 'Now's the time,' " Purnell said of the decision to rest Stitt.

After playing four top-25 teams in its first six ACC games, Clemson does not play a ranked team in any of its next eight games.

In the meantime, Stitt said he's confident Young will fill in admirably.

"I definitely have confidence in Andre," Stitt said. "He's shown before that he can step up."