The Clemson men’s basketball team will host the Florida State Seminoles at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday night.
The Tigers (18-8, 8-7 ACC) are coming off of one of their best ACC wins of the year, dominating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in Atlanta on Wednesday night to avenge their third loss of the season. They face a Seminole squad that they have faced before, but look to win for the second time this season.
Before the game, Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said that over the course of this week and following last weekend’s loss to NC State, he attempted to bring back the mentality of earlier this season, which seemed to work following a 24-point victory.
“I really just tried getting our guys to think back to November and early December and just remember the joy that we were playing with,” Brownell said. “In every huddle tonight, we just said spirit, like team spirit, because we are just trying to get back to our team spirit.”
With Clemson almost certain to be making the NCAA Tournament, which is set to tip off in a month, continuing to win will help the Tigers earn themselves a higher seed, which is important for playing games as well as making it to the second weekend of March Madness.
Jan. 20 was the last time that these two teams met, where the Tigers used an excellent second half to take an 11-point victory in Tallahassee, Florida. Four Tigers scored double-digits in that game, and Clemson will need to see many different scorers if the team wants to take a season sweep this year.
The team is also not out of the double-bye conversation just yet, in a tie for fifth place in the ACC. Clemson is in a four-way tie for fifth place, joining Pittsburgh, NC State and coincidentally, Florida State (14-12, 8-7 ACC). Winning on Saturday night would continue to put them a game behind Wake Forest for the No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament, which would grant the team a double-bye for the second straight season.
A win over the Seminoles would make it five of their last six for the Tigers, who would be getting hot at the perfect time with the postseason arriving shortly.
Florida State is not a team that can be overlooked, however. After an incredible start to ACC play, the Seminoles are only 3-5 since their matchup with the Tigers in late January. Their losses over this stretch are not bad at all, losing to top teams North Carolina, Duke and Virginia all during this group of games. They are also coming off of a win against Boston College, hoping their eight-point victory will give them a little more momentum for their arrival to Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Seminoles continue to win games through their deep bench and turnover play, which will continue to be something to watch for Brownell. Nine players average five points or more, marking plenty of threats for Clemson to look out for on Saturday night.
Forward Jamir Watkins continues to lead the team in scoring, averaging 14.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game. Darin Green Jr. is another threat, who scores 11.6 points and 1.6 steals as well. Off the bench, guard Primo Spears scores 10.1 points while averaging 23 minutes a night.
TIpoff is set for 7:45 p.m. There has not been a broadcast announcement yet.
