After a week of rest and recovery, Clemson’s men’s basketball team is back on the road trying to stay at the head of the ACC table.
The Tigers also get a prime opportunity to enhance their NCAA Tournament resume.
Clemson (18-6, 10-3 ACC) returns to action today against North Carolina (15-9, 7-6) in its third game away from home in the last two weeks (2 p.m., ESPN). The Tigers came away victorious in their most recent trip to Chapel Hill in 2020, which, to this point, is their only win in 60 tries inside the Dean Dome.
Another one this afternoon would not only at least keep the Tigers tied for first place in the conference standings but also help their postseason resume immensely. Clemson has as many combined Quad 3 and Quad 4 losses as Quad 1 wins, which, according to multiple updated bracket projections, has the Tigers inching closer to the bubble despite their positioning within the ACC.
Clemson now sits at 70 in the NET rankings, and no team lower than 77th has ever received an at-large bid. But the Tigers have seven games left plus the ACC Tournament to try to improve their footing starting with UNC, which, with a NET ranking of 44, gives Clemson its first chance at a coveted Quad 1 victory since a loss at Wake Forest on Jan. 17.
The Tigers have had a week to prepare.
Clemson hasn’t played since last Saturday when it fell at home to Miami, which started the Tigers’ first losing streak of the season. Clemson is hopeful the down time will benefit some of the players that are returning from injury enough to keep the skid from continuing.
While much of the attention in today’s game will focus on the frontcourt matchup between PJ Hall and UNC All-American Armando Bacot, Clemson’s backcourt is working to find its old form since becoming whole again recently. Point guard Chase Hunter (three games), Brevin Galloway (two) and Alex Hemenway (10) have returned after missing a number of games with various injuries. The trio played together against Miami for the first time since mid-December.
Galloway scored 15 points in his first game back against the Hurricanes, but it’s been a slower process reacclimating for Hunter and Hemenway. Hunter, who’s averaging 14.1 points on the season, has shot less than 27% from the field with more turnovers (7) than assists (6) in the last two games while Hemenway has scored just six points on 2 of 7 shooting in his first two games back.
“I think we’ll be better when we get everybody back and get everybody kind of in their same rhythm,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “That’s been hard for us in the last three weeks.”
Clemson will need its collective rhythm if it hopes to take advantage of its opportunity against UNC, which has lost just once at home this season.
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