Know Your Opponent: Clemson

By Bobby Hundley

Clemson (ClemsonTigers.com)
Location: Clemson, S.C.
Rankings: CU - No. 17 KenPom, No. 20 AP; UNC - No. 13 KenPom, No. 19 AP
Records: CU - 17-4, 6-3 ACC; UNC - 16-6, 5-4 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 132-20 (UNC 87, CU 79, Jan. 16, 2018, Smith Center)

KYO: Clemson - Jan. 16

The peculiarities of ACC scheduling are such that Clemson has only played three games since its last meeting with Carolina on Jan. 16. Exactly two weeks later, the Tigers are still in great postseason position, but they were dealt a devastating blow when it was revealed that senior Donte Grantham was lost for the year with a torn ACL suffered in the win over Notre Dame on Jan. 20.

The first game without Grantham went about as poorly as it possibly could have, with the Tigers managing just 0.58 points per possession in a 61-36 loss at Virginia. The 0.58 PPP was Clemson's worst offensive output in the KenPom era (since 2001-02), but Brad Brownell's team regrouped with a 1.18 PPP performance in a 72-70 win at Georgia Tech on Sunday.

Which is the real Clemson without Grantham remains to be seen, but Sunday's showing against an above-average ACC defense seems to indicate that there is plenty of fight left in the Tigers. Gabe DeVoe made 10 of 15 shots against the Jackets, including 5 of 8 from deep, while Marcquise Reed had an always-popular points/assists double-double with 13 and 11 (and just two turnovers).

In the two games since Grantham's injury, 6-7 freshman Aamir Simms has started and played the bulk of the minutes at power forward. After not playing more than eight minutes in any ACC game before Grantham went down at Notre Dame, Simms is averaging 27.5 minutes and 8.0 shot attempts in his two starts, numbers that would indicate that Brownell is comfortable letting the freshman learn on the job.

At No. 6 in the official NCAA RPI with a No. 9 strength of schedule and nine Quadrant 1 and 2 wins on its resume, Clemson feels like a lock for the postseason. For seeding purposes, however, the next month will be incredibly important for the Tigers in terms of proving to the committee that they can overcome the Grantham injury and remain a top-tier team. Shaking off the Virginia debacle and winning on the road was a big step in the right direction. Clemson can take another big step by defending its home court Tuesday night.

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