Clemson Basketball Preview

Date: Wednesday, November 30^th – Littlejohn Coliseum – Greenville, SC – 8:00 PM CST

2015-16 Record: 17-14 (10-8 ACC)

2016-17 Record: 3-2

Record against Nebraska: First Meeting

Head Coach: Brad Brownell (6^th year)

The Huskers head to Clemson to take on the Tigers for the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wednesday.

The Cornhuskers are 3-2 in the challenge since joining the Big Ten. Last year Nebraska took on then #21 Miami in a game that went into overtime before The Hurricanes took home the win.

Nebraska is currently coming off the three day Wooden Legacy Classic in California where they went 1-2. Their losses were to ranked UCLA in a hard fought match and Virginia Tech. They have been home for three days now and should have the rest they needed to finish out the tournament.

The Tigers are a fairly decent team in the always strong ACC. While they are picked to be in the bottom third of the conference this year, they are still a challenge to and have played some decent competition so far this year. Both losses came in the Tire Pros Invitational in Florida this last weekend. Their first loss was to #11 Xavier where they got within 4 points in the last few seconds. The second loss was to a gradually improving Oklahoma team.

Clemson is good at offense and are solidly six deep on the court. After that the production drops off considerably. They currently have six players averaging double digit points per game. Leading them is forward Jared Blossomgame who is bringing in 18.4 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Expect Jared to battle hard against our guys in the paint. He will need to be contained if the Huskers want to keep this game.

Jared is followed by two guys who you don’t want to leave alone outside the arch. Avery Holmes and Gabe DeVoe are guards who are both averaging 12.6 ppg on the year. Add them in with Donte Grantham and Marcquise Reed who are averaging 11.8 and 11.2 ppg respectively and you have an offensive scoring threat to tackle any defense. Marcquise is also a killer beyond the arch. he is currently averaging 56% from three point land.

However, I’m not too sure the tigers have faced a defensive team like the Huskers. Pressure from guys like Glynn Watson Jr. and Ed Morrow could give them headaches. Turnovers will be key as they are averaging 11 a game with a season high of 17 against Oklahoma. They also do not seem to be much of a threat in the paint which will bode well for the Huskers.

They can hit the three as well as any team out there. If the Huskers get into a scoring drought like they have done in the past then the Tigers could have an early night. The Huskers have been improving on this as of late so hopefully we won’t see too much of a gap if the Huskers don’t have the lead early on.

If Nebraska can put on the pressure early and not go into any offensive dry spells then I can see the Huskers coming out of South Carolina with a win. They will need to make the Tigers play at their own speed but it can be done and I think this young team can make it happen.