On Dec. 11, the Clemson men’s basketball team will travel to Atlanta, Ga. to play Drake University for Holiday Hoopsgiving. After losing four of their past five games, the Tigers look to get back on track with a victory against Drake, especially with ACC play fast approaching. 
Clemson is led by the dynamic duo of senior forward Hunter Tyson and sophomore center PJ Hall. Hall is averaging 13.9 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game, while Tyson is averaging 11.3 points per game and 5.3 rebounds per game. 
The Tigers are also shooting 41.8% from three this season, ranking sixth nationally.  
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs are finding success through their two sharpshooting forwards, Tremell Murphy and Tucker DeVries.  
Murphy is averaging 12.1 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting a superb 43.8% from behind the three-point arc.   
DeVries is averaging 12 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game, but he has started to heat up as he is coming off back-to-back 20 point games. 
For Clemson to win this game, they must stop this sharpshooting duo, and they should focus their efforts on the hot hand of DeVries. DeVries presents a difficult matchup as he is quick on his feet with an excellent first move. Along with his quickness, he has immense size, 6’7”, for his playstyle.  
These attributes makes it difficult to put a guard, like graduate senior David Collins, on him.  
Despite the season not going as planned for the Tigers defensively (135th in defensive efficiency), head coach Brad Brownell has always prided himself on having a stout defense, so Clemson should be able to formulate a way to stop DeVries. 
The Tigers have ranked 35th or higher in defensive efficiency in three of the past four seasons. 
Another key to winning this game is learning to play with a lead. In three of the four Clemson losses this season, the Tigers have led by at least nine points in the second half.  
This isn’t to say that either of those things will happen for the Tigers on Saturday, but they need to make sure to continue to play with a high motor and limit turnovers so history does not repeat itself against Drake. 
“The turnovers are a problem offensively for us,” said head coach Brownell about winning games down the stretch. 
One final thing the Tigers need to do to defeat Drake is win the rebound battle. Clemson has been outrebounded in five of their eight games and has given up 79 offensive rebounds. Drake is averaging 33.7 rebounds per game and nearly nine offensively.
Clemson (5-4) will play Drake (6-3) on Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. EST.