After a successful two-game road swing that saw Clemson pick up wins at Georgia Tech and Pitt last week, the Tigers return home tonight to host Syracuse in a game that most expect head coach Brad Brownell's team to dominate.
That's because the Orange simply aren't a very good team this year. In fact, it is sad to see the state that one of the proudest prorams in the ACC finds itself in these days.
Sitting at 9-9 on the season, the Orange are just 3-4 in conference play. Thus, this game needs to be one in which Clemson shows its maturity and handles its business.
The Tigers enter tonight riding a three-game winning streak. What's more, they have won six of their last seven games to sit at 7-1 in the conference race.
The good news for Clemson fans is that this team has already shown that it has a knack for beating up on bad teams, especially at home. Already this year, Clemson has beaten Stanford, Cal, and Florida State (all ACC pretenders) by double digits at Littlejohn Coliseum. Now, they will look to do that to the Orange.
The difference in this matchup should be on the defensive end of the court. While Clemson is fantastic in that aspect of the game giving up an average of just 66.7 points per game, the Orange are woeful defensively allowing 77.6 points per game.
Syracuse is led in scoring by junior guard J.J. Starling who averages an impressive 18.5 points per game. In fact, in three of his last four games, he's put up 21 points or more. Certainly, the Tigers will build their game plan around slowing him down.
Inside, big man Eddie Lampkin Jr. is the emotional engine for the Orange. A nibble 6-foot-11, 266-pounder, he averages 10.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per game and when he gets fired up, he can bring the same type of lift to his team that Ian Schieffelin can bring to the Tigers.
This is the start of a four-game stretch that will see Clemson face four opponents that the Tigers should handle if they truly want to be ACC title contenders. It will be imperative that Clemson doesn't slip up against Syracuse tonight, at Virginia Tech, at NC State, or against Georgia Tech in the next four games so that Brownell's team has a shot to draw even with Duke in the standings when the Blue Devils come to Littlejohn on February 8.
It appears that the No. 2 Blue Devils are not going to slip up against lesser opponents this year as they have in so many other seasons. Thus, the path to the regular-season conference crown is narrow for the Tigers meaning that Clemson can't afford any inexplicable losses as well.
Clemson is one of the hottest teams in the conference and Tiger fans will be tuning in tonight to see if they can stay that way. So let's look at all the game information fans need ahead of this ACC contest.
Clemson vs. Syracuse broadcast information
Tip: 7 p.m. Eastern
TV: ACCN (Matthew Schumacker and Randolph Childress)
Radio: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret, and Ben Milstead)
Clemson Radio Affiliates: WCCP 105.5 The ROAR (Flagship)
SiriusXM: Ch. 371, and on the SiriusXM App
Clemson vs. Syracuse series history
Overall: Clemson leads 10-6
In Clemson: Clemson leads 7-1
In Syracuse: Clemson trails 2-5
At neutral sites: Clemson leads 1-0
Current streak: Clemson, 3
Coach Brownell vs. Syracuse: 8-6
Clemson vs. Syracuse odds
Odds courtesy of FanDuel.com.
Favorite | Moneyline | Over/Under |
|---|---|---|
Clemson -14.5 | Syracuse +890 | 140.5 |