Clemson Men's Basketball: Tigers travel to Durham to take on Duke

With a week's rest after taking down Florida State 78-67 in Littlejohn Coliseum the Clemson Men's Basketball team heads to Durham, North Carolina and Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the Duke Blue Devils Saturday afternoon.

It was a much-needed win for Brad Brownell's squad, who once harbored hopes of a top three seed go by the wayside while losing four of five games before the contest with the Seminoles.

The Blue Devils will provide a worthy, but not unbeatable opponent, as their 76-70 loss on their home court to Pittsburgh last Saturday shows.

Duke is led by Kyle Filipowski, the 7'0 sophomore who's averaging 18.2 points and 9 rebounds per game, while shooting over 50% from the field, including 40% from three-point range.

The Blue Devils feature four additional players averaging double digits, with Jerry Roach averaging 14.4 points, Mark Mitchell 12.7, Jared McCain 12.1 and Tyrese Proctor 10.7.

Duke features a top 10 offense in efficiency per KenPom.com, averaging 81.7 points per contest in compiling a 14-4 record, including a 5-2 ACC mark.

Clemson has been led all season by 6'10 senior P.J. Hall, who has poured in 19.7 points while grabbing 7.1 rebounds per game.

Also in double digits is Joe Girard at 14.9 and Chase Hunter with 11.8 points per contest, with Ian Schieffelin falling just below the double-digit mark at 9.8 points per game.

Schieffelin leads the team at 9.6 rebounds per game, with Hall second in that category.

The Tigers have also had a very efficient offense (ranked 13th), but have struggled defensively at times, which makes this matchup with the Blue Devils on their homecourt potentially problematic.

Clemson's bench was buoyed against the Seminoles by the return of 6'10 forward Jack Clark, who had played since November 28th.

Clark chipped in 7 points and 7 rebounds, including 3 offensive rebounds, in 21 minutes, providing the Tigers a depth they've lacked for the last several weeks.

Clemson Men's Basketball must shoot well on the road at Duke

Call me Captain Obvious, but this is a game where Clemson is going to have to outshoot one of the better shooting teams in the country to win the game, especially since Duke rarely turns the ball over.

The Tigers can do that when the shots are dropping, particularly three-pointers from Girard.

Girard has struggled at times against bigger guards and Duke has several that fit that bill.

The game also offers P.J. Hall the opportunity to step up against one of the bigger names in the sport in Filipowski in what should be a fantastic watch.

Hall's propensity to get in foul trouble, at times early in the game, could be problematic for Clemson, as in my opinion Hall needs to be on the court for 32-35 minutes for the Tigers to remain competitive.

The early line shows Duke as a 7.5-point favorite with the total set at 153.5

The game is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN at 4:00 p.m.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.