Syracuse students agree: Basketball season won't be as kind to Clemson as football.
The Orange are still undefeated. After playing a big stretch of games they have had five days off and now are well rested to take on Clemson at home. The Tigers may have owned the Dome in October, but February is our time.
Clemson is one of those sneaky teams. They will generally lose to better teams, but they surprised Duke (who we know is very good) earlier this year. But what Clemson doesn't do well is what teams need to do to beat zone defenses. Clemson doesn't shoot the three very well. They are 11th in the ACC and only average 4.8 a game. They average 31.2% from three, which isn't great. Additionally Clemson is last in the ACC in assists, meaning there aren't that many interior passes in the paint or to the baseline. It will be mostly drives and drive and kicks. And considering they don't hit many 3's I'm not exactly sure how driving and kicks will help. KJ McDaniels is Clemson's best player, earning 16.3ppg and leads his team in almost every important statistical category. If Syracuse shuts him down, chances are Clemson will be down in a hurry. Clemson doesn't score very many points as it is, and Syracuse only allows 59.1ppg. Unless Syracuse has a dreadful offensive outing this game shouldn't be close. I'm taking the Orange by 24, in a rare blowout game for the Orange this conference season.
This game is available nationwide on ESPN U / Watch ESPN at 6:00pm. John will be in the Dome and I'll be in the home office. This one could either be fun or boring. We're hoping for the former as the #1 team plays their last game of the week to make sure they are #1 on Monday afternoon.
Labels: ACC, Basketball, Preview
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