The Clemson basketball team is about to get one of its bigger tests of the season, seeing as the Tigers are facing back-to-back contests on the West Coast.
Brad Brownell’s team flew out late Monday ahead of its Wednesday night matchup against Stanford. That game tips off at 10 p.m. EST, which will be an adjustment in and of itself. After that, it’s on to Berkeley for a road game at Cal on Saturday.
“We will fly out to Stanford, and we will be out there a couple of days,” Brownell said during the ACC Coaches Zoom call on Monday. “Then off to Cal.”
Clemson is off to a hot start in conference play, having won eight of their first nine league games. The Tigers are currently sitting in second place in the ACC standings and are No. 31 in the NET Rankings.
The Cardinal comes in at just 3-8 in ACC play and has lost four straight. Although two of their three wins in league play came at home over ranked teams, Louisville and North Carolina.
Brownell knows that if his team is going to come away with a win, slowing down guard Ebuka Okorie is a must. The freshman is averaging 21.8 points per game.
“Stanford, I think has played very well at times,” Brownell added. “They have beaten a bunch of really, really good teams. Saint Louis in the non-conference, obviously North Carolina and Louisville. They have some really good wins. Their freshman guard is incredible, just watching him on film. It has been impressive to see his speed and change of direction. His poise for a freshman is uncanny. They’ve got shooters around him, guys that can make shots. It will be a heck of a challenge to go out there and we will need to play very well to win.”
With this kind of west coast swing being a first for Brownell and the Tigers, the head coach knows there will be an adjustment period due to the time change. While it will be challenging, Brownell is hoping to keep routines as normal as possible.
“You talk to so many different people, you hear a lot of different things,” Brownell said. “Hydration seems to be a major thing. We are going to shoot in there (Stanford gym) the night before, which we typically do at most places. We have talked about doing some recovery that night, as well.”
At the end of the day, Brownell isn’t interested in the travel schedule being used as any type of excuse. All teams deal with those kinds of things at one point or another. The goal is to come back home with a couple of more wins under the Tigers’ belts.
“We just got to figure it out,” Brownell said. “We just got to go there with the mentality that we are going to play well and compete. We will have to monitor it as a staff and hopefully everything will be fine.”
—Photo by Bart Boatwright/The Clemson Insider