Clemson Men’s Basketball: Tigers vs. Panthers Preview

Clemson Men’s Basketball takes on the Pittsburgh Panthers tomorrow afternoon in Pittsburgh in what is surprisingly a battle for first place in the ACC as both versions of cats are 4-0 in the conference to date.

The Panthers had a rough start to the season, going 1-3, with a win over Tennessee Martin, before suffering three consecutive losses to West Virginia, Michigan and Virginia Commonwealth.

The first of those was a blowout loss in the Backyard Brawl to the rival Mountaineers and the latter two on a neutral court as part of the Legends Classic on back-to-back days.

There’s no shame in losing those first two games, but VCU is ranked 117th by KenPom.com and will likely end up being a bad loss as the season continues.

Since that time, the Panthers have reeled off 10-1 wins in 11 games, including back to back to back wins over Syracuse (away), North Carolina (home) and Virginia (home).

The Panthers profile similarly to Clemson, getting their points in the same way – an average amount of three-point shots, a lot of two’s and a less-than-average amount of free throws.

Where the Panthers stand out over the Tigers, and most of college basketball in general, is their offensive rebounding percentage, where their 33.0% ranks 59th, which would put them comfortably in the top 20% of college basketball.

For reference, the offensive rebounding percentage for Clemson is 22.9%, which comes in 325th in the nation.

Hunter Tyson has been dynamic for Clemson, both scoring and rebounding, but the offensive boards is an area of weakness for this team.

The Panthers rely on the three a bit more than Clemson and that disparity could widen without the services of Alex Hemenway.

Clemson Men’s Basketball has won three consecutive ACC games without Alex Hemenway

The Tigers have managed 3 wins in Hemenway’s absence, but have shot a combined 32.8% on threes in those games.  While that’s not horrible, it’s no where near where they were with Hemenway and his 50% shooting from deep.

In each of three wins, someone has stepped up for Clemson, scoring way past their expected output and covering for Hemenway’s absence.

Against Georgia Tech, P.J. Hall poured in 25, then Hunter Tyson tallied 31 against N.C. Sate, while freshman R.J. Godfrey reached double figures against Virginia Tech.

The Tigers have to find someone to do the same, assuming Hemenway isn’t able to go.

Pittsburgh has more experience than the Tigers and if Hemenway can’t play, I would expect that gap to widen, with Hemenway’s minutes being taken up by freshmen.

Both Pomeroy and ESPN give Pittsburgh a 58% chance of winning the game.

Check back tomorrow for more on this game and our preview and prediction.