Today, the Clemson Tigers basketball team returns to action after a week-long break which came at the perfect time as the conference schedule is about at the half-way mark. Now, February opens with a road trip to NC State as the Tigers look to stay on Duke's heels and even with Louisville in the ACC conference race. Clemson and Louisville enter Saturday at 9-1 in the ACC trailing only 9-0 Duke.
As for the Wolfpack, they are just trying to pull out of a prolonged nose dive that has seen them lose their last five games. In fact, NC State has dropped seven of its last eight games to fall to 9-11 overall and 2-7 in conference play.
The challenge again for Clemson head coach Brad Brownell and his team is to make sure that it isn't tripped up by a poor opponent. That's something Clemson has done a great job of in ACC play.
None of the teams Clemson has beaten during its current five-game losing streak had a winning conference record when they played the Tigers. While that might take some of the shine off of the run Clemson has been on, it is also true that Clemson is handling its business against teams it should beat.
Since the Tigers' last loss, a disappointing effort at Louisville on January 7, they have won four of their games by double figures. The only exception was a 78-75 overtime win at Pitt on January 18.
Today's contest at NC State is expected to be another one that Clemson handles with relative ease. The ESPN.com matchup predictor gives the Tigers a 66.4% chance of coming out on top.
The difference between the two teams should be Clemson's firepower. The Tigers are averaging seven points more per game (77.4) than the Wolfpack entering Saturday's action.
Only two NC State players average more than 10 points per game. Guards Marcus Hill and Jayden Taylor are averaging 12.8 and 12.5 points per game respectively.
One reason why the Wolfpack struggle to put points on the board is that they are a poor free-throw shooting team. Hitting at just a 71.3% clip from the stripe, they rank 16th in the ACC. Meanwhile, Clemson is No. 2 in the conference at 77.4% as a team.
As if that didn't make the NC State offense sluggish enough, the Wolfpack also is a poor 3-point shooting team. They are making only 31.4% of their attempts from beyond the arc. That's good for only 16th-best in the conference as well.
While this is yet another struggling opponent for the Tigers to contend with, it is still an important game for Brownell and his squad given that there could be little to no margin for error if Clemson wants to win the ACC regular season crown. So the biggest challenge for the Tigers today might be an internal one in the sense of overcoming the challenge of facing another team with a losing record after a week off.
Here's a look at everything Clemson fans need to know ahead of game No. 11 of conference play.
Clemson vs. NC State broadcast information
Tip: 1:30 p.m. Eastern
TV: The CW (Tom Werme and Mike Gminski)
Radio: Clemson Athletic Network (Don Munson, Tim Bourret Ben Milstead)
Clemson Radio Affiliates: WCCP 105.5 The ROAR (Flagship)
SiriusXM: Ch. 388, and on the SiriusXM App
Clemson vs. NC State series history
Overall: Clemson trails 60-106
In Clemson: Clemson leads 37-34
In Raleigh: Clemson trails 15-51
At neutral sites: Clemson trails 8-21
Current streak: NC State, 1
Coach Brownell vs. NC State: 14-11
Clemson vs. NC State odds
Odds courtesy of FanDuel.com.
Favorite | Moneyline | Over/Under |
|---|---|---|
Clemson -5.5 | Clemson -215 | 132.5 |