By Will Vandervort.
By Will Vandervort
CLEMSON — Speed is always known to be the No. 1 killer in the sports world. You always hear coaches and players talk about how speed kills.
When the Clemson men’s basketball team reflected on last year’s 63-47 loss at Arizona earlier this week, the one thing they all remembered was the Wildcats’ team speed.
“They were fast,” forward K.J. McDaniels said. “They just kind of blew past us at times. It was like a blur they were so fast.”
The No. 8 Wildcats (6-0) have not changed much since last December and their speed will be on display tonight when they visit Littlejohn Coliseum for an 8:05 tip.
“Oh, they are fast,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “They are fast at a lot of positions. There are not many weaknesses and that’s why they are a top 10 team. They shoot it well. They guard you. About the only thing they have done, and I’m sure Sean (Miller) is upset about it, is they have turned it over a little bit more than he would like.
“They play the game the right way. They run some motion. They run some sets. They move the ball, share it, guard it and move at a really high level. They are really in good position defensively all the time and it is hard to score against them. From that standpoint, it will be another good experience for our guys to play a team like this.”
Arizona will be only the fifth non-conference team ranked to have ever played at Littlejohn Coliseum. The last time that happened was 12 years ago, and the only time Clemson beat a ranked non-conference foe at home was in 1997 when the Tigers knocked off No. 6 South Carolina, 62-57.
“We are looking forward to the challenge,” McDaniels said. “They are a very athletic team and they are real smart, too.”
Clemson officials are expecting a sellout tonight as a few tickets still remain.
“The atmosphere will be important,” Brownell said. “We will certainly need some help from our fans. We will need some support because there are going to be times when they make runs. There are going to be some times when we make bad plays and we have to hope we are playing in a good frame of mind.
“We need to get off to a good start. When we have confidence, our fans keep us picked up, so we need to play well enough to keep our fans with us. That’s on us.”
It should help that the Tigers (5-2) will be getting back senior forward Milton Jennings after he served a two-game suspension for a drug arrest prior to the Purdue game on Nov. 28. But, they will also have to adjust for the first time without guard T.J. Sapp, who decided earlier this week he was leaving the team and will transfer to another school in the spring.
It will be a challenge for Clemson defensively to guard Arizona’s fast guards. Though the Tigers rank 12th nationally in scoring defense (53.7 points allowed), it will be hard trying to stop a team that has both its guards—Mark Lyons and Nick Johnson—averaging better than 12 points a game, and wing player Solomon Hill, who is averaging 13.2 points a night.
The Wildcats have scored 82 or more points four times in their six games thus far. Clemson on the other hand has held its opponents to 57 or less points in six of their seven games.
“We are not going to try to score 85 points and play in the 80s,” Brownell said. “I don’t know if we are going to walk the ball up the court on every possession, either. I think we have to try to be opportunistic and when we have chances to score, we have to go take them. But, we also have to be a little careful and recognize their talent and what they are trying to do.”
And what Arizona wants to do is use its speed because ultimately, speed does kill.