Countdown to tipoff: Clemson at Louisville

By Staff Reports.

Clemson travels to Louisville to take on the fifth-ranked Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. The Tigers are hoping to bounce back after opening the ACC season with a 24-point home loss to North Carolina last Saturday. Clemson shot just 28.5 percent from the floor.

 

 

GAME SETUP

Clemson (8-5, 0-1 ACC) vs. No. 5/5 Louisville (13-1, 1-0 ACC)

Date: Wednesday, Jan. 7

Tipoff: 9:06 p.m. ET

Arena: KFC Yum! Center (22,090)

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

TV: ACC Network (Tim Brant-pbp; Dan Bonner-color)

• Clemson takes its show on the road for three straight games, two against teams currently ranked in the top five.

• The Tigers play at Louisville on Wednesday in the Cardinals’ ACC home opener; it is the first meeting between the two programs since the 2006 NIT.

• Despite the loss of K.J. McDaniels to the NBA, Clemson is still fourth in the ACC and 20th nationally in blocks per game (5.7).

 

SERIES HISTORY

CU Series W-L record: Louisville leads 3-0

 

QUICK HITS

• Clemson has three wins in its history over top-five ranked teams on the road, all of which came during the Tree Rollins era. Overall, the program has 16 wins over top-five teams, six during Rollins’ playing days.

• The Tigers are in search of their first win over a top-five team in any venue since Feb. 4, 2009, when Clemson beat No. 3 Duke 74-47 at home.

• The Clemson program has only faced Rick Pitino on two occasions. Rick Barnes’ 1996-97 team shocked the college basketball world in Indianapolis, Ind., by upsetting his defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats.

• Clemson has faced Pitino once at Louisville, in the 2006 NIT. Pitino’s Cardinals won 74-68 in a game played in Freedom Hall.

• Landry Nnoko will pass Larry Nance for 11th in school history with his next blocked shot. Nnoko has 108 for his career and is the ACC’s No. 2 shot-blocker this season.

• Damarcus Harrison is in the midst of a career-long nine consecutive games with at least one three-point goal. He has made six over the past two games.

 

PROBABLE STARTERS

Clemson

G 12 Rod Hall 6-1, 205 Sr. 9.1 ppg 3.3 apg

G 21 Damarcus Harrison 6-4, 205 Sr. 11.0 ppg 3.5 rpg

F 15 Donte Grantham 6-8, 205 Fr. 10.2 ppg 4.8 rpg

F 5 Jaron Blossomgame 6-7, 215 RSo. 13.6 ppg 8.2 rpg

C 35 Landry Nnoko 6-10, 255 Jr. 9.3 ppg 6.5 rpg

 

Louisville

G3 Chris Jones 5-10, 175 Sr. 12.1 ppg 3.9 rpg

G 0 Terry Rozier 6-1, 190 So. 17.1 ppg 5.6 rpg

F 25 Wayne Blackshear 6-5, 215 Sr. 12.6 ppg 5.4 rpg

F 24 Montrezl Harrell 6-8, 240 Jr. 16.7 ppg 9.5 rpg

C 14 Anas Mahmoud 7-0, 200 Fr. 1.9 ppg 2.8 rpg