Brad Brownell believes his Clemson team can make it to the Final Four.
If that is the case, the Tigers will have to get past No. 2 seed Arizona tonight (7 p.m., CBS) at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
“Yeah, they’re tremendous. They’ve got a lot of really good players,” Brownell said Wednesday as the sixth seeded Tigers gets set to play the Wildcats in the Sweet 16 Round of the NCAA’s West Regional. “Certainly, what you’re impressed with is they have balance. They play with pace. They certainly have an inside presence.”
That inside presence is 7-foot, 260-pound center Oumar Ballo. He is shooting 64.5 percent from the field in his career.
“They go right to Ballo on the high-low right away on almost every single possession,” Brownell said.
Ballo is not the only big-man Arizona has. It will spell Ballo with 7-foot-2, 260-pound Motiejus Krivas. Though not as tall, the Wildcats also have 6-foot-7 forward Keshad Johnson, who has made at least one three-point shot in each of the last seven games.
“Johnson is super athletic, competitive, tough, beat you off the bounce, can make a three,” Brownell said. “He can guard five men. He does everything, switches on the guards. They just, as you would expect the team who’s had as much success as they have, top 10 team throughout the year, they’ve got a lot of really good players.
“They’ve got experience both on the perimeter and in the post.”
In other words, Arizona (27-8) will be a tough challenge for the Tigers. By the way, Clemson also has to deal with an old nemesis in North Carolina transfer Caleb Love. He averaged 14 points, three rebounds and three assists the three times he faced the Tigers as a Tar Heel.
“I kind of keep track of him from afar after playing against him for a couple of years,” Clemson center PH Hall said. “Other than that, there’s a lot of good players on that team.
“One thing we’ve done these past three games is try to make guys uncomfortable, try to make guys get out of a rhythm. I think that’s kind of the same thing for this game. I think that speaks in general for all games when you go against a great player like that. You’ve just got to try to limit his chances.”
Been here before. Clemson is making its fifth ever trip to the Sweet 16. It’s a good thing overall appearances do not decide the outcome. Arizona is making its 20th Sweet 16 appearance and is 60-36 all-time in NCAA Tournament games.
Clemson is 13-13 in NCAA Tournament games.
Not the first time they met. Arizona is 3-0 all-time against Clemson, with the Wildcats winning the most recent meeting, a 66-54 decision on Dec. 8, 2012.
The two programs also met on Dec. 10, 2011, in Tucson and Arizona won that game, 63-47.
The first meeting between the two programs came in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament on March 18, 1989, in Boise, Idaho. Arizona won, 94-68, behind 25 points from Sean Elliott and 19 points from Matt Muehlebach.
Not their first time in LA. Arizona is 6-3 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Los Angeles. This will be the sixth appearance in L.A. in the tournament (1976, 1988, 1994, 2013, 2015, 2024).
Road Warriors. The Tigers recorded their 10th and 11th wins away from home this season which is tied for the most in program history. Clemson is 5-1 on neutral floors and 6-6 in true road games. It’s the second time in school history Clemson has recorded 11 wins away from home.
All-Time Leader. With the win over New Mexico and Baylor, Brownell set the Clemson record for NCAA Tournament victories in a career. It was his fourth and fifth NCAA Tournament wins.
First time in 27 years. The win over No. 14 Baylor was Brownell’s 23rd over a Top 25 team – one more than Cliff Ellis’ previous record. This is the first time since 1996-97 that Clemson has three wins over Top 25 teams away from home. (No. 22 Alabama, No. 3 North Carolina and No. 14 Baylor).
–photo by Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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