By Will Vandervort

Sunday’s matchup between Clemson and NC State at Littlejohn Coliseum is a little more intriguing than what most might think. Both squads come into the 1 p.m. tipoff in search of confidence, and more importantly, a victory.

Clemson is in the midst of a two-game losing streak—both on the road—in which they lost to a Boston College team that had won one conference game all year prior to that, and then was embarrassed at Virginia on Thursday night.

The Wolfpack comes into Littlejohn with a three-games losing streak and has lost four of its last five games overall.

“They have had a little bit of a tough stretch,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “The lost at Virginia in a close game, they got beat on a tip-in at the buzzer to Miami. That was a difficult loss, I’m sure, and then they had a hard game with Duke.

“They are a little bit wounded from the standpoint they have lost a couple and they were difficult games. But we have been in this situation where it seems like a lot of teams have lost a game right before us and it’s like they are really ready to go.”

The game is also urgent because of the ACC standings. Right now, NC State, the preseason favorite by the media, is 5-5 in the conference, just one game ahead of the Tigers, who are 4-6. If Clemson should win, it could move into a three-way tie for sixth place.

“We can’t worry about (NC State’s) mindset and what they are thinking and what they are worried about,” Brownell said. “We have to focus on playing better basketball.”

Clemson (12-10) did not play good basketball against Virginia. The Tigers shot just 30.8 percent from the field, including 20 percent in the first half. They were 1-17 from three-point range and turned the basketball over a season-high 19 times.

They weren’t much better on defense. For a second straight game an opponent shot over 55 percent from the floor and made 10 or more three-pointers.

The good news for Clemson is that it’s back at home, where it has won four straight games and seems to play with a whole lot more confidence.

That confidence could be a little higher too, considering the Tigers came within a shot or two of knocking off NC State in Raleigh in Jan. 20. Clemson tied the game on two occasions late, but a breakdown on the defensive end and then a missed shot in the final seconds allowed NC State to get out with a win.

The Wolfpack (16-7) could get a big boost at the point guard position, though, if starter Lorenzo Brown is able to return. He has missed the last two games due to a left ankle injury. Head coach Mark Gottfried said prior to Thursday’s loss at Duke that his star point guard was still a few days away.

Brown was averaging 12.7 points and 6.2 assists per game before he was injured. He had seven points and five assists in the first meeting between the two teams.

“We certainly respect those guys and they are doing some good things at NC State, but right now it is about us getting our mindset in a good place,” Brownell said. “I think we just have to do that through good practices.”