After rolling through then-No. 9 Florida State to start ACC play and then blowing out Boston College in its first league game on the road, No. 4 UVa is once again away from home tomorrow afternoon when the Wahoos travel to Clemson to face the Tigers (noon, Raycom).
And judging by the years these two teams have had to this point, the home team looks pretty overmatched.
UVa (14-0, 2-0 ACC) remains one of two unbeaten teams nationally and has led both of its conference games by at least 29 points. The Tigers, meanwhile, are limping a bit. Ranked 40th according to KenPom, they've lost their last two games but both have come away from Littlejohn Coliseum. While the Duke loss makes sense, the 61-53 defeat at Syracuse left a lot to be desired and certainly doesn't give much hope to the idea that Clemson might snap its eight-game losing streak to Virginia tomorrow afternoon.
Clemson Tigers (10-5, 0-2 ACC)
Head coach: Brad Brownell, 17th year (326-203, 159-118 in nine years at Clemson)
Series: UVa leads the all-time series 76-52.
Last Meeting: The Cavaliers beat the Tigers 64-58 in last year's ACC Tournament.
Three Things We Know
1. After a trip to the Sweet 16 last year, Clemson is still in search of a signature win.
Despite being picked near the bottom of the conference standings, Clemson had a very impressive run last season. Starting ACC play 3-0, the Tigers remained relevant throughout the conference slate and ended up snagging the fourth and final double-bye in the ACC Tournament. Their run in Brooklyn ended with a 64-58 semifinal defeat to the Cavaliers, but the Tigers turned things around and had pulled off a pair of wins over New Mexico State and Auburn in the NCAA’s before falling to top-seeded Kansas in the Sweet 16. Because of last year’s success, expectations were higher for Clemson this season but the Tigers have yet to really assert themselves as a conference contender. In non-conference play, Clemson went 10-3, with losses to Creighton, Nebraska, and Mississippi State. Clemson doesn’t have a signature win and after a rough 0-2 road trip to open league play Brownell’s team is still looking for a statement win for their resume.
2. Clemson returns most of the team that faced UVa in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Clemson lost a pair of players from last year’s team, guard Gabe DeVoe and forward Donte Grantham, who each averaged 14.2 points per game. But other than those two, the core of the team that won 25 games last season returned for 2018-2019. The backcourt of Shelton Mitchell and Marquise Reed give the Tigers a lot of ACC experience and a pair of players averaging double figures scoring. Reed missed a few games with an injury but has played the last four, scoring 15 points in all of them. Reed has scored 15 points or more in all but one game he has played this season and is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 19.3 points per game. Mitchell averages 13.1 points per game and shoots nearly five 3-pointers per game. But he has had a few rough shooting nights from beyond the arc, including going 3-of-16 from deep against Mississippi State. In the frontcourt, Clemson starts senior Elijah Thomas and sophomore Aamir Simms. Thomas is the team’s second-leading scorer at 13.5 points per game and the team’s top rebounder. Simms, a Central Virginia native, is an exceptional athlete that is starting to realize his potential at the collegiate level, averaging 9.5 points per contest.
3. The Tigers are a good defensive team, with one significant weakness.
Brownell’s teams usually defend well and play a physical brand of basketball, and this year is no different. Clemson ranks 24th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency and allows opponents to score an average of 67 points per game. Clemson has a well-rounded defense that forces a decent number of turnovers and does a good job on the glass, ranking 13th nationally in fewest offensive rebounds allowed. But there is one glaring statistical weakness when evaluating the Tigers’ performance this season: giving up a lot of made 3-pointers. Clemson’s opponents this season have shot 36.4 percent from beyond the arc, which ranks 280th best nationally, and worst in the ACC. The bad news for the Tigers is that Virginia is shooting 39.5 percent from 3, which is 14th best in the country. UVa has shot 15-of-35 from three in their two ACC games, or 42.8 percent.
