By Staff Reports.

Clemson will host No. 19 North Carolina to tip off the 2015 ACC Basketball season. The Tigers are in search of their third top-30 RPI win of the season, owning victories over LSU (22) and Arkansas (27) already. North Carolina is No. 24 in the latest RPI released by the NCAA.

GAME SETUP

Clemson (8-4, 0-0 ACC) vs. North Carolina (10-3, 0-0 ACC)

Date: Saturday, Jan. 3

Tipoff: 8:15 p.m.

Arena: Littlejohn Coliseum (10,000)

Radio: CTSN (Tony Castricone-pbp; Tim Bourret-color)

TV: ESPN (Dave O’Brien-pbp; Doris Burke-color)

• Clemson and North Carolina open the ACC regular season against one another for the first time since 2007-08.

• The Tiger program has 13 wins over top-20 Tar Heel teams in its history; UNC is ranked No. 19 in the latest AP poll.

• Clemson’s most recent win in the series was on Jan. 13, 2010, an 83-64 victory over a 12th-ranked UNC team at the time. Brad Brownell is in search of his first victory over the Tar Heels.

SERIES HISTORY

CU Series W-L record: North Carolina leads 128-20

Streak: North Carolina has won six straight meetings

QUICK HITS

• Clemson has defeated six ranked foes in ACC home openers.

• A win Saturday would be Brad Brownell’s 250th as a head coach.

• In the ACC era (1953-present), Brownell is the only Clemson coach with a winning record in the month of January (18-13 overall). He is the 10th different coach at Clemson in that time frame.

• Saturday’s game is Clemson’s first of four this season against a team led by a Naismith Hall of Fame coach.

• Jaron Blossomgame is coming off a fifth double-double this season, which ties for the ACC lead. He posted 16 points and 12 rebounds vs. Robert Morris.

• Rod Hall has 329 career assists and needs two to pass David Young for 14th in Clemson history and seven to pass Marion Cash for 13th.

PROBABLE STARTERS

CLEMSON

G 12 Rod Hall 6-1, 205 Sr. 9.5 ppg 3.5 apg

G 21 Damarcus Harrison 6-4, 205 Sr. 11.0 ppg 3.6 rpg

F 15 Donte Grantham 6-8, 205 Fr. 10.3 ppg 4.8 rpg

F 5 Jaron Blossomgame 6-7, 215 RSo. 13.7 ppg 8.6 rpg

C 35 Landry Nnoko 6-10, 255 Jr. 9.9 ppg 6.4 rpg

NORTH CAROLINA

G 5 Marcus Paige 6-1, 175 Jr. 13.6 ppg 3.8 apg

G 13 J.P. Tokoto 6-6, 200 Jr. 9.4 ppg 5.4 rpg

F 44 Justin Jackson 6-8, 193 Fr. 9.6 ppg 3.2 rpg

F 11 Brice Johnson 6-9, 228 Jr. 11.6 ppg 7.1 rpg

F 3 Kennedy Meeks 6-9, 270 So. 12.8 ppg 8.9 rpg