On Wednesday, Dec. 22, Clemson men’s basketball will travel to Charlottesville, Va. to play the Virginia Cavaliers (7-4, 1-0) at 7:00 p.m. EST. This will be the Tigers’ first of 19 straight ACC basketball games to end the season.
A win over Virginia would be a magical moment for the Tigers because they have lost to Virginia 11 consecutive times, dating back to 2013. Furthermore, the last time Virginia has lost at home to Clemson was in 2008.
For Clemson to win, they need to do three things: find scoring outside of PJ Hall and the interior, stop Jayden Gardner and prevent Virginia’s inside scoring.
Hall has blossomed into a young star for the Tigers, and he is putting together a terrific year. Hall is averaging per game 14.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. He is also shooting 48.9% from the field and 30.6% from three.
Unfortunately, Clemson should not count on Hall to have a big game against Virginia, at least inside, as the Cavaliers are loaded with tall and talented men. Virginia is averaging 5.1 blocks per game this year, and its star big man Kadin Shedrick is averaging nearly three of them.
Virginia also has a stout center who is 7’1″ that comes off the bench in Francisco Caffaro, who will help add to the problem of scoring inside.
Clemson is an incredible three-point shooting team, shooting 41.4%, which ranks fifth among all college basketball teams. Look for the bulk of Clemson’s scoring to come from the perimeter and the Tigers’ stable of talented guards, including the hot-handed Alex Hemenway and shifty guard Al-Amir Dawes.
The following two keys to winning the game rely on Clemson playing tough, hard-nosed defense.
Stopping senior forward Jayden Gardner is imperative for Clemson to win. The East Carolina transfer has been a dominant force in the paint for Virginia and is averaging 15.3 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game while shooting a tremendous 60.7% from the field.
Gardner will be a tough matchup for the Tigers because of his size and athleticism. He is 6’6″ and 246 pounds while having a good first step and jumping ability.
A couple of players who could guard Gardner are David Collins and Naz Bohannon. Unfortunately, neither are the perfect matchup, but expect to see Collins get the first crack at stopping Gardner.
Finally, Clemson needs to keep Virginia out of the paint on offense. The majority of scoring for Virginia comes from the interior, in large part because they physically outmatch their opponents.
In six of Virginia’s seven wins, they have scored at least 32 points from 2-point field goals, including over 40 points, three times.
Aside from guards Taine Murray and Kihei Clark, who are shooting 46.7% and 40.9% from beyond the arc respectively, Virginia lacks consistent outside scoring. The lack of other perimeter scorers is why they rank 219th in three-point percentage among all college basketball teams.
Clemson needs to protect the paint like a dog protects his bone. They cannot let Virginia get there, and they need to make Virginia beat them outside the perimeter.
All in all, Clemson must execute these three things to help them snap its 11 game losing streak against Virginia on Wednesday.
