Clemson Tigers 9-0 (1-0) at Memphis Tigers 7-2
When: 3:00pm, Saturday 12/16
Where: FedEx Forum – Memphis, TN
TV: ESPN+
Odds: Memphis -2.5, Memphis ranked 31 by KenPom with 56% probability to win, Clemson ranked twenty fourth by KenPom
The blue suede sneakers are on and the Clemson Tigers have boarded the airplane. They’ve touched down within the land of the delta blues in the course of the pouring rain for his or her hardest take a look at to this point. This previous week Clemson basketball moved from twenty fourth to thirteenth in one of many largest jumps in AP historical past following one other main win in Toronto in opposition to TCU.
But this weekend is not any impartial web site recreation awaiting the purple and regalia clad Tigers. Instead they’ll face their bizarro basketball twin within the Memphis Tigers on the FedEx Forum (additionally home of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies).
Let’s begin with the story of the tape for the home-standing Memphis crew.
This crew poses probably the most issues for Clemson to date this season. From an influence rankings stand level, Clemson is available in with an RPI of #1 within the nation. It’s an incredible feat that ought to be observed, however you don’t even must scroll right down to see that Memphis rolls in to Saturday’s match up with an RPI of seventh.
Both Clemson and Memphis have some spectacular wins. Clemson clearly has a streak of beating Alabama, Pitt, South Carolina and TCU in a row, 3 of which had been away from Clemson. Memphis has a resume that matches up nicely with ranked wins over Arkansas and Texas A&M, each away from home. Factor in 2 extra street wins in opposition to Michigan and Missouri and the resume appears to be like practically equivalent to Clemson’s, even with each the Wolverines’ and (Missouri) Tigers’ struggles to start out the 12 months.
Memphis is just not with out some inconsistencies. They had been thumped by a pedestrian Villanova crew within the Bahamas, misplaced a winnable recreation on the street to Ole Miss, and practically gave away a recreation in time beyond regulation to VCU.
Nonetheless, this Memphis crew is dripping with NBA expertise that begins and ends with Dale Jones, the 6’6” Senior ahead from the D.R. He leads the Black and Blue Tigers in scoring (20.1 PPG), rebounding (6.6 RPG), and steals (2.4 PG). The solely class he doesn’t lead is in assists, which is held by the opposite NBA caliber guard on this crew, former Alabama switch, Jahvon Quinerly. Along facet of 4.8 assists a recreation, he’s 2nd on the crew in scoring with 13.3 ppg.
The excellent news for Clemson is that their crew retains rounding in to type. PJ Hall stays a dominant pressure on the low publish, main the crew in scoring (20.1 ppg) and blocks (2.3 bpg). Joe Girard continues to warmth up, cracking the 2nd spot on the crew in scoring at 15.1 ppg. Girard and Chase Hunter are primarily 1A and 1B as crew leaders for assists. Lastly, Ian Scheffelin continues to make each old faculty basketball fan happy by main the crew in rebounding with a whopping 9.6 rebounds per recreation.
This is arguably the stiffest take a look at Clemson has confronted but (with all due respect to Alabama). A loss wouldn’t derail something, nevertheless, a win would begin to perk up much more nationwide curiosity.
If the (Clemson) Tigers are capable of walk out of Memphis with a “W” Saturday, the narrative turns into much less of a “nice little story” and immediately shifts to “how serious of a contender are we talking about here?.” Hold on to your hats, it’s going to get attention-grabbing.
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