CLEMSON — It is not often Clemson and North Carolina are ranked when playing each other on the hardwood. In fact, it has only happened 18 times in the previous 158 meetings between the two ACC foes.
When the two get together Saturday for a noon tip at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, the Tigers are ranked No. 18, while UNC is ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press College Basketball Poll. A win by the Tigers would be their first over a top 10 North Carolina team since 2001 when Clemson beat No. 1 UNC, 75-65, at Littlejohn.
The Tar Heels own a 15-3 advantage in those ranked vs. ranked matchups against Clemson. However, the Tigers have won two of the last three such contests, including an 82-78 victory at Littlejohn Coliseum in 2018. Clemson was ranked No. 20 in that game, while UNC was ranked No. 19.
The only other times a ranked Clemson squad knocked off a ranked Tar Heels team came in 1977 and 2010. The Tigers were ranked 19th coming into both of those meetings, while UNC was ranked No. 4 in 1977 and No. 12 in 2010.
For Clemson (11-2, 1-1 ACC) to get a win over the Tar Heels on Saturday, it will need to play better than it did in Wednesday’s loss at Miami, especially on defense. The Hurricanes shot 75 percent from the field in the second half.
“I am disappointed in our performance in the last twenty minutes,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. “That is maybe as bad of a defensive half that I have had as a head coach.”
North Carolina (10-3, 2-0 ACC) is led by graduate postman Amando Bacot. The Tar Heels center leads the ACC with 10.7 rebounds per game. He is also averaging 14.9 points.
Bacot became the seventh Tar Heel to score 2,000 career points in Tuesday’s win at Pitt. The ACC’s active leader in career scoring has recorded 2,003 career points.
The Tigers will also have to stop ACC leading scorer RJ Davis. The senior guard is averaging 21.1 points per game, just ahead of Clemson center PJ Hall, who is averaging 20.2 points per contest.
“(Miami’s) shot making was ideal,” Brownell said. “They got in a little bit of a spread, and it was one of the few times this year we kind of got out of sync. We just lost our flow on both ends early in the second half.”
Hall is one of two players in Division I currently averaging 20.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. Purdue’s Zach Edey is the other.