Make no question about it Clemson wants to beat South Carolina in everything. Even in a game of rock-paper-scissors the stakes are high.
That will be the case tonight when the red hot Tigers, winners of five straight, take on the Gamecocks at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson for a seven o’clock tip.
“It is an important game because it is a rivalry game,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “We want to win and we know it is important to our fans. It is important to us and we want to keep our level of confidence because of the way we are playing. So we will see how we are doing.”
The Tigers (9-1) are coming off a 71-69 victory over Florida in the Orange Bowl Classic last Saturday in Sunrise, Fla., a game in which they rallied from 12 points down in the second half to earn the win over the 22nd-ranked Gators.
Clemson, No. 31 in the latest RPI, already owns a come-from-behind win at Ohio State earlier this season, and now it has an opportunity to get another quality win against the Gamecocks, who come into the rivalry game with an 8-2 record.
“It was (important) last year. They were ranked last year when we played them down there,” Brownell said. “That is what I mean. That’s not the first time. We have had games with South Carolina where both teams have done well. Last year, both teams at this time were playing great basketball and it was a heck of a basketball game.
“Again, I think Frank (Martin) and I would both like to see the fan bases excited about it and recognize it. But not only get behind us at this point, but make sure you get behind us even a little bit earlier sometimes. I think we both are playing good basketball.”
The Tigers also have an opportunity to beat two teams who advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last year in back-to-back games. Florida lost to the Gamecocks in the Elite Eight Round, advancing them to the Final Four for the first time in school his history.
In other words, Clemson has an opportunity to beat an Elite Eight team and a Final Four team in back-to-back games.
“Part of the reasons we schedule these games is because Florida is a great program, Ohio State is a great program, we want to play games against teams that are nationally recognized and have had success on the biggest of stages,” Brownell said. “We want to put our guys in position to compete against really good teams in good environments.
“We think that helps us for the ACC and certainly it is why we schedule those games and will continue to do so and hopefully, it opens the eyes up a little bit to our fans. It certainly helps a little bit in recruiting and it definitely toughens your team up for what they have to face.”
Win or lose tonight, Brownell says it will not change things. Of course they want to win because it is South Carolina and that is why they play the games. Plus, they want to keep this momentum they have going into ACC play, but if they do fall short it does not mean the season is going to spiral out of control either.
Look at the Gamecocks for a good example. They lost the rivalry game last season, yet went on to play in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Final Four. Clemson on the other hand, did not make the NCAA Tournament and lost in the first round of the NIT.
“Last year, we went down there and won and it was great and it was an unbelievable win for our team, but we could not hold it together all the way through the ACC season,” Brownell said. “If we win or lose (tonight), the same will be true.
“We will have ten more press conferences like this where we will be talking about the importance of this game, and is this a win at all cost game for your team. I get that question multiple times every year.”