With postseason play rapidly approaching, it’s now or never for the Clemson men’s basketball team.
What started as a historic and monumental season for Clemson (19-8, 11-5 ACC) has turned into a nightmare in February due to the Tigers’ recent struggles. Set to face Syracuse (16-11, 9-7 ACC) on Wednesday, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell and his team have gone 1-4 this month and consequently have been driven out of the top seed in the ACC. If the Tigers continue to trend in the wrong direction, they could be knocked out of NCAA Tournament contention, as they are already on the bubble.
Against the Orange, the Tigers will look to bounce back after an especially disappointing 83-73 loss to Louisville, which is currently last in the conference, on the road last Saturday.
“Our team panicked a little bit,” Brownell said after the loss. “We seemed to have panicked a little bit on offense in some of these games, especially on the road, when things aren’t going quite as well for us.”
With four games left in the regular season, the Tigers need to finish strong when faced with a schedule featuring a ranked matchup against No. 6 Virginia, N.C. State, Notre Dame and Wednesday’s game against Syracuse.
Luckily for Clemson, PJ Hall is heating up at the right time. The junior forward/center has led the Tigers in scoring over the past four games, the last of which he dropped 28 points in the loss to Louisville. He is looking to continue this hot stretch as the postseason looms.
On the other side of the court is the Orange, who have also had a roller-coaster of a season this year. Their schedule has been challenging, as they have faced Virginia twice and No. 13 Miami once. Most recently, they were outscored by 22 points against Duke in Durham. However, they do have impressive wins, such as their 75-72 victory over N.C. State on Feb. 14.
The Orange’s leading scorers are guards Joseph Girard III and Judah Mintz. Girard leads the team, averaging 17 points per game and shooting 38.8% from beyond the arc. Mintz averages 15.7 points and 4.5 assists per game.
In the frontcourt, center Jesse Edwards averages 14 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, which will certainly have the Tigers’ hands full on Wednesday.
Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. EST at Littlejohn Coliseum, and the game will be broadcasted on the ACC Network.
