With the NCAA Tournament tipping off on Thursday for Clemson basketball, the excitement is palpable. Fans, coaches, and players are all awaiting the tip on Thursday afternoon against one of the top mid-majors in the country.
McNeese offers a tough test for Clemson and if the Tigers can pass it, they will have even more tough matchups waiting in the Round of 32 (Purdue, anyone?).
It's been a successful year for the Tigers but the same could be said for McNeese who finished with the same record (27-6) and went on a tear after a 5-5 start to the season, finishing 22-1.
Here are some stats of McNeese's that should worry Clemson fans the most.
1. Bench points
In March, it's usually the deepest teams that make the deepest runs. If you have a team that's 9-10 guys deep, you're likely to wear down opponents and pick up wins in the most critical time of the year.
McNeese has a deep roster.
The Cowboys have 10 guys who average 13-plus minutes per game and all but one of these guys averages over 3.5 points per game. And that's after losing top scorer Alyn Breed in the first month of the season. Ten different players can be on the court throughout the course of a game for 13-plus minutes. And that has led to some elite bench scoring as McNeese ranks 47th in the country in bench points per game at 25.9.
That could be an issue.
2. Field goal percentage defense
Clemson has already struggled a bit offensively in recent games and it's not exactly a welcomed sight seeing a team that ranks near the top of college basketball in field goal percentage defense.
In fact, the Cowboys are 22nd in the country in field goal percentage defense, holding teams to just 40.2% from the floor. That means Clemson won't have many easy buckets and it'll have to be hunting for clean looks all game.
Defense has made McNeese tough to beat and Clemson is about to find out.
3. Turnovers forced
Back to the defensive side of things, Clemson turns the ball over about 10.5 times per game which isn't bad at all, but McNeese is a team that likes to speed you up and force some miscues.
Don't believe me? Just look at their turnovers forced per game. They are 31st in the country in turnovers forced at about 14.6 per game. That's kind of a wild stat considering they only turn it over 10 times per game themselves. That's a great margin.
If Clemson wants to win, it's going to have to protect the ball because McNeese is ready to muck things up and win ugly, if need be.