Pittsburgh visits for Tigers’ next challenge
CLEMSON — After gaining ground ahead of the middle of the ACC standings in Saturday’s win vs. Florida State, Clemson basketball (19-8, 9-7) hosts Pittsburgh (18-9, 9-7) in another critical conference matchup Tuesday at Littlejohn Coliseum.
The Tigers are coming off a 74-63 win in which their leading scorer and shot blocker, PJ Hall, played a seasonlow 16 minutes. Now they shift their focus to the Panthers, a team that has the second-best road record in the conference (6-3).
“As much as anything, they’re just playing with tremendous confidence,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. “That’s a big thing on the road because your team has to truly believe they’re going to win. You’re going into places, you’re just executing your plan and you’re not distracted by the environment.”
Pittsburgh, which has won six of its past seven games, defeated Virginia Tech 79-64 on Saturday. The Panthers hope to split the regular-season series against the Tigers after losing 79-70 on Dec. 3. The teams are tied with North Carolina State for fifth in the ACC.
Here are three things to know and a score prediction:
Godfrey, Clemson’s reserves come through
With Hall in early foul trouble Saturday, it opened the door for 6-foot-8 RJ Godfrey to maximize his time off the bench again. He gave an instant boost to Clemson, thanks to his size and athleticism on both ends of the floor. He recorded 12 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals against Florida State. Brownell said it was “maybe his best game at Clemson.”
The sophomore has played at least 20 minutes in his past three games. His additional minutes correlate to Hall and Ian Schieffelin missing practices due to undisclosed injuries. As a
result, Godfrey and the reserve unit are receiving extra reps, and their results are showing up on the floor.
The Tigers' bench (Godfrey, Josh Beadle, Chauncey Wiggins, Dillon Hunter) scored 23 points Saturday — their fifth straight game scoring in double figures — and added four blocks and four steals.
“There's not many guys left to work on the post stuff, so our perimeter guys are just getting a lot of work,” Brownell said. “We're walking through a lot of things. RJ is getting a lot of extra work, and that's helped him become a better player.”
Tigers continue to respond to Brownell’s call for better defense
Monday's “difficult” film session — when Clemson coaches challenged the players and emphasized to them to be aggressive on defense — has resonated with the Tigers. After holding Georgia Tech to 57 points — a season low in conference play, they held FSU to 63, which is 13 points fewer than its points per game average.
Clemson finished Saturday's game with nine blocks, tying a season high, and six steals, its most since Jan. 20. It has held opponents to under 70 points in four of its past five games. The outlier was against NC State, allowing the Wolfpack to score 78, which sparked the intense film session.
“We've worked hard on our defense the last month or so,” Brownell said. “It's gotten better, and one of the things that we've got to do is just continue to get our hands on a few balls.”
What makes Pitts a tough out?
The Tigers must figure out how to slow down guard Blake Hinson. He is second in the ACC in points per game with 18.9, shoots 42.2% from 3-point range and leads the conference in made 3-pointers (95). The last time Clemson faced an elite scorer was NC State's DJ Horne, who finished with 27 points, including the go-ahead basket in the final seconds on Feb. 17.
The Panthers are also a dominant rebounding team, averaging 12 offensive boards, which ranks second in the ACC. Defensively, they allow the third-fewest points (67.1) and the lowest 3-point field goal percentage (29.8%) in the conference. Federiko Federiko and Zack Austin are among the best shot blockers in the ACC; both have 38 blocks this season.
Score prediction
Clemson 73, Pittsburgh 69: This crucial ACC game is going to go down to the wire. In a game like this, look for both teams' best players to dominate. Hinson will be dynamic, but expect Hall, who had 22 points and 11 rebounds in their first matchup, to lead the Tigers to their third straight victory by having a greater impact on both ends of the floor.