Clemson opens the 2018-’19 basketball season Tuesday when it host The Citadel at 7 p.m., at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson.

The Tigers are a little banged up heading into the first game, and will likely be without center Elijah Thomas, who is still day to day with a sprained ankle and a bone bruise, which he suffered in practice two weeks ago.

Fortunately, for Clemson, it returns two of the best guards in the ACC in Shelton Mitchell and Marcquise Reed, who spoke with the media on Monday to preview Tuesday’s season-opener against The Citadel.

Reed said Brownell challenged them to pick things up and play better than they did in the two exhibition games, especially on the defensive end of the court.