Clemson Men's Basketball: Tigers travel to suddenly hot Notre Dame

Fresh off wins in 6 of their last 7 games, Brad Brownell's Clemson Men's Basketball team travels to Indiana to take on Notre Dame Saturday.

In yet another roller-coaster season under Brownell, the 20-8 Tigers take their 10-7 ACC record into the final three regular-season games in control of their own destiny as far as a top 4 seed and double-bye in the ACC Tournament goes.

Three wins and the Tigers finish no worse than fourth, but a loss in those three could spell doom for the Tigers chances in said tournament.

Clemson's spot in the big tournament is all but sealed with a NET of 23, 5-4 Quad 1 record and road wins over North Carolina and Alabama.

The Tigers will be favored in 2 of the last 3, Saturday against the Irish and Tuesday when they host Syracuse, but will be underdogs when they travel to Wake Forest in the regular season finale.

Since getting poleaxed by Virginia Tech on January 10, the Tigers are 9-4, with a double-overtime loss to Georgia Tech and 3 one-point losses.

I'm one that you are what your record says you are and while it's easy to say the Tigers record could be much better (it could), it could also be worse (it could).

Those games are done and with everything in front of them, the Tigers need to be hyper focused on the next three games, not the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.

All season long the Tigers have been led by P.J. Hall (18.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks per game), Joe Girard (15.8 points) and Ian Schieffelin (9.4 rebounds).

Recently though, Hall has spent a lot of time in foul jail and others have stepped up to fill the void.

Jack Clark and Chase Hunter have spurred Clemson Men's Basketball recent success.

As he has throughout his career, Hunter has been hit or miss over the season, but recently has given Clemson an extra boost from his guard spot.

I have my doubts about how Hunter's resurgence manifests in the ACC Tournament and during March Madness, but right now I'm taking it at face value.

Hunter has scored 15, 16 and 18 in the Tigers last three games, all wins, and only turned the ball over 4 times in 103 minutes of action, with three of those coming against Florida State.

Clark has been a difference maker on defense and on the boards since insertion into the starting lineup, recording double-digit rebounds twice and nine another time.

His defense has been stellar and while he hasn't been the scorer some hoped for or desired, I'd argue that those needs are ancillary on this team with Hall, Girard, Hunter and Ian Schieffelin.

Notre Dame is 11-17 on the season and 6-11 in the ACC, but has been on a roll lately, winning four of their last five, including an upset of Wake Forest that has helped Clemson in their bid for the double-bye.

The game is scheduled to begin at 7:45 p.m. Saturday on everyone's favorite sports network, TheCW.