Clemson Men’s Basketball: Tigers take on Bellarmine – Preview, odds, picks

The 2-1 Clemson Men’s basketball team hosts the 2-1 Bellarmine Knights basketball team, which opened the season with a win over Louisville.

Bellarmine is a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference and is located in Louisville, Kentucky.

For the Knights this game is the beginning of a 12-day stretch that sees the team play at Clemson, at Duke, at Loyola Marymount, at UCLA and at Kentucky. Yo.

Clemson is coming off an 81-70 win over USC Upstate where the lead was comfortable throughout the game, but the Tigers just couldn’t pull away in a game in which they were favored by 21.5 points.

Chase Hunter led the Tigers with 20 points and the Tigers shot 56.4% from the field, outrebounded Upstate and yet only won by 11.

Perhaps not in this game, but as the season wears on, I’m concerned about the bench play for Clemson, both in terms of points and minutes played.

Here’s how my cohort, John Chancey and I see this game playing out, in our “friendly wager” series.

Can Clemson men’s basketball cover 14 points against Bellarmine?

Clemson -12 Over/Under 133.5

John Chancey 2-1, 1-2 ATS:

If you look at minutes played for Bellarmine, the top six are all guards. Defensively, Clemson will have to play well around the perimeter. Offensively, the Tigers need Brown and their bigs on the bench to take advantage of their size against a smaller lineup. I think Clemson wins, but doesn’t cover against a very good Bellarmine team.

Clemson 65, Bellarmine 55

Marty Coleman (3-0, 2-1 ATS):

This spread is more in the Tigers range, at least early in the season, but who knows what you’re going to get from Bellarmine, who beat Louisville to open the season and followed that up with a loss to Morehead State.  I’d like to see more from the Clemson bench, which may not lend itself to the cover, but could pay dividends later on.

Clemson 78 Bellarmine 63