Not since Rick Barnes and Eddie Fogler walked the sidelines has a Clemson vs. South Carolina basketball game meant so much too both teams. Of course that was nearly 20 years ago as Barnes’ Tigers knocked off Fogler’s No. 6 Gamecocks 62-57 in Littlejohn Coliseum – the only time a Clemson team has beaten a ranked Carolina team in nine tries.
Since that 1997 game, the Tigers and Gamecocks have had success here and there on the basketball court, but never at the same time, until tonight.
Clemson enters tonight’s 9 p.m. game on ESPNU on a six-game winning streak and at 8-2 overall. The Tigers are coming off an impressive 67-54 victory at Alabama on Sunday, a game in which guard Shelton Mitchell scored a career-high 18 points.
South Carolina is 9-1 to start the season and is ranked No. 20 in the Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the Associated Press top 25. The Gamecocks’ lone loss is a three-point defeat at Seton Hall on Dec. 12. However, they bounced back with a solid 11-point win, 77-66, at South Florida last Saturday.
This is a big game for both programs, which are both looking to make the NCAA Tournament after some extended time away. The Tigers, who are currently ranked No. 69 in the latest RPI rankings, have not made the NCAAs since the 2010-’11 campaign, head coach Brad Brownell’s first year in Clemson.
The Gamecocks, currently ranked No. 19 in the last RPI, have not made the big dance since 2004.
Granted, the Clemson football program is in the middle of a second straight national championship run, but its Fiesta Bowl matchup with No. 3 Ohio State is still 10 days away. Tonight, Clemson fans should be throwing all of your energy to the basketball team which will try to do something that has not been done too often – beat a nationally ranked non-conference opponent.
Overall, the Tigers have 88 wins vs. ranked opponents, but just six of those have come against a ranked non-conference foe and none of those six have come on the road.
However, it will not be an easy task. The Gamecocks are one of the country’s stingiest defensively. They are third in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense (.346) and fourth in scoring defense (57.7).
South Carolina is led by Sindarius Thornwell, who leads the team in scoring (18.1 ppg) and rebounding, but he has not seen game action since Dec. 1 after being suspended for a rules violation. He is not expected to play tonight. PJ Dozier (14.5 ppg) and Duane Notice (11.1) also average double figures for the Gamecocks.
The good news for the Tigers in this matchup is their scoring is up this season. They enter tonight’s contest with South Carolina averaging 78.8 points per game, a top-85 figure nationally (of 347 teams). Last season, Clemson scored 80 or more points just four times (in 31 games). The Tigers already have five such efforts in nine games this year.
The Tigers are taking care of the basketball, too. Through the first 10 games of the season, Clemson has committed the 10th fewest turnovers per game (10.2) nationally. Equally as important, the Tigers have been turning their opponents over.
Clemson is fifth nationally in turnover margin (+6.3), due in large part to one of the ACC’s best steals per game (8.1) figures.
Clemson has won the turnover margin in all but two games this season, and is 7-1 when gaining the upper hand in the statistic.
Overall, the Tigers have four of its starters averaging in double figures in points scored. All-ACC forward Jaron Blossomgame is leading the way with 17.6 points. Guard Avry Holmes is next (11.2), followed by Donte Grantham’s (10.8) and Mitchell’s (10.7).
Defensively, though Brownell still would like to see some improvement, Clemson has held each of its last five opponents to 65 or fewer points and four of them failed to score 60 points.
So instead of watching some meaningless bowl game tonight, turn on ESPNU or if you are in Columbia, travel over to The Colonial Life Arena and, for the first time in 19 years, watch a basketball game that means something to both Clemson and South Carolina.