University of North Carolina Athletics
Clemson Game Guide
January 5, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1/1 Carolina (14-0) will open its ACC schedule at No. 19 Clemson (12-1) on Sunday night. Carolina's nine-week stretch atop the AP poll is its longest since the 1986 season (13 weeks) and the third-longest all-time. Carolina is coming off of a 90-61 win over Kent State on January 2. Carolina won its seven non-conference home games by an average of 31.8 points. Clemson is coming off of an 87-61 win at Alabama on January 1. The 26-point margin of victory is Clemson's largest over on the road against an SEC opponent.
Carolina leads the all-time series between the two schools, 118-19. Clemson has not defeated Carolina since 2004 and Carolina has won the last six meetings. Clemson is 16-8 in the previous 24 meetings between top-25 teams in Littlejohn, but just 1-5 against Carolina when both are top-25 clubs. Clemson is 2-27 all-time against the No. 1 ranked team. One of its two victories was against Carolina, 75-65, at Clemson in February of 2001.
Game Time: North Carolina at Clemson, 7:30 p.m.
Last Time: In a game that pitted the No. 4 Tar Heels against the No. 19 Clemson Tigers, the game was supposed to be a close one for a 16-2 Carolina team that had been shaken by a road loss at a Virginia Tech. But in what ended up being a sloppy affair, Carolina came away with a 77-55 victory on the road on January 17, 2007. Clemson shot 34% from the field, 21% from the three-point line and 26.3% from the free-throw line. Clemson made one more free throw (5) than three-pointer (4) in the same number of attempts (19). Carolina shot 51.7% from the field but turned it over 22 times, 20 on Clemson steals (a school record in an ACC game). Clemson turned it over 19 times. Carolina out-rebounded Clemson, 47-38.
Carolina led 35-29 with 2:20 to go in the first half, but the Tar Heels ended the half on a 9-0 run to take a 15-point lead. Carolina's lead did not drop below 15 the rest of the game and grew to as large as 25 in the second half. Carolina was led by Brandan Wright's 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Wright also had four blocks, which led the team. Tyler Hansbrough added 16 points and tied for the team lead in rebounds with Reyshawn Terry (both had seven). Wayne Ellington added 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Danny Green had 10 points. Reyshawn Terry had just eight points but added seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Ty Lawson had a career-high seven turnovers.
James Mays had 15 points but shot 5-of-12 from the field. He and Cliff Hammonds, who also had 15 points, were the only Tigers to make a free throw (Mays was 4-of-6, Hammonds 1-of-3). Mays and Hammonds were the only Clemson regulars to make a three-pointer as well. Vernon Hamilton added 10 points and six steals. Trevor Booker had just eight points but also added eight blocks. K.C. Rivers was held to just four points but led the Tigers with seven rebounds.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 6:30 p.m.
Injury Report: Quentin Thomas sprained his ankle in practice on December 28th and missed the last two games. If he is able to practice on Friday and Saturday, he will play on Sunday. Alex Stepheson missed the Kent State game due to a family illness and his status for the Clemson game is uncertain. Bobby Frasor tore his ACL and will miss the season.
Storylines
Rebounding: After getting more than 45 rebounds just once in their first five games, the Tar Heels have pulled down 45 or more rebounds in all but three of their last nine games and have had at least 40 rebounds in all but one game in that span after failing to reach 40 rebounds three times in the first five games. Carolina is back to being the rebounding team that it wants to be and its ability to rebound the ball is part of the reason that this team is 14-0 right now.
However, in its last five games, there has been some cause for concern in that department. Nicholls State, a much shorter team, out-rebounded Carolina in the first half, 15-14. Carolina rebounded - literally - to obliterate Santa Barbara on the boards, 57-30. The Tar Heels had a nice game against a tough Nevada team on the boards as well, 45-33. But after holding teams to fewer than 15 offensive rebounds in all but two games this season and in four straight home wins, Carolina allowed Kent State to set a season high with 17 offensive rebounds, collecting nearly 44% of their missed shots. After rebounding 10 of Kent State's 14 misses in the first half, Carolina managed to collect just 13 of Kent State's second-half missed shots. Kent State had just four first-half offensive rebounds and ended the game with 17 compared to just 13 defensive rebounds.
"Really bad. We've been talking this whole week about boxing out and only limiting them to one shot. The fact that they were on the boards the way they were tonight is a little discouraging after working on it so hard," Ginyard said. "You've got to be in the mindset to box out each and every time. You're got to be tough physically to stick with the box-out and not let them push you underneath the basket and get easy baskets. Coming up against these ACC opponents, they're going to go a lot harder. They're going to be a lot stronger. So it's going to be a lot tougher for this team."
Clemson is third in rebounding margin (+8.9) in the ACC, behind only North Carolina. The Tigers are averaging 41.5 boards a game and holding opponents to 32.5. Clemson leads the league in offensive rebounds, averaging 17.08 per game. Carolina is second at 15.57 per game. Carolina leads the league in defensive rebounding at 28.64 per game. Clemson ranks ninth in that category, averaging 24.38 per game.
Carolina has two players in the top 20 of the league in rebounding - Tyler Hansbrough (1st) and Deon Thompson (20th). The team drastically misses the rebounding of Alex Stepheson - in 181 minutes this season, he had pulled down 62 rebounds (4.8 rebounds per game in 13.9 minutes), 0.2 more than starter and offensive rebounder Marcus Ginyard (4.6). But Will Graves has pulled down 21 rebounds in just 54 minutes per contest and Copeland had five boards in his 16 minutes against Kent State. Those two players will need to do what they can to make up for Stepheson's absence, if he does not play, against a tough Clemson front line.
Clemson has two players ranked inside the top 10 of the league in rebounding - Trevor Booker (9.2) and K.C. Rivers (7.3). Clemson has two players ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounds - Rivers is third (3.08) and Booker is eighth (2.54). Carolina has just Tyler Hansbrough at No. 1. Hansbrough is also the only player to rank inside the top 10 in defensive rebounding in the league, averaging 5.43 per game. Booker leads the league in that category (6.62).
Clemson edged out Ole Miss on the defensive glass 21-17, but still lost the game. In its last two contests, both wins, Clemson has out-rebounded its two opponents by a combined 48-28 on the defensive boards, or a +10.0 margin per game. Before the loss to Ole Miss, Clemson's largest deficit on the offensive boards was -1. Ole Miss out-rebounded the Tigers 23-13 on the offensive boards, giving them their biggest deficit of the season. Clemson has bounced back well, out-rebounding Samford 40-11 (21-2 on the offensive glass) and out-rebounding Alabama 42-29, with a 13-10 edge on the offensive boards.
The lack of depth: Carolina has nine players listed on the stat sheet that average double-digit minutes (or 9.9 in the case of Quentin Thomas). Seven of those average over 15 minutes a game. However, Bobby Frasor (16.3) is out for the season. Alex Stepheson (13.9) was in California for part of this week because of a family illness and his availability for Sunday's game is questionable. Quentin Thomas (9.9) sprained his ankle and has missed Carolina's last two games. His return Sunday is also questionable. That leaves Carolina with just six healthy members of its rotation; each of those six average over 20 minutes a game.
Lawson is the only Carolina player to see over 30 minutes of action since December 19th, when Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington also played over 30 minutes. The Rutgers game was the only time in the last month that someone other than Lawson (Hansbrough) played over 30 minutes in a game. So, for the most part, Carolina's starters have not had to see over 30 minutes of action in a game much this season, and certainly not much in the last month.
Carolina allowed Kent State to shoot 14-of-28 in the first half of Wednesday's game, a statistic that Williams was not pleased with. The Tar Heels held Kent State to 13-of-40 shooting in the second half. However, even though Williams feels better about where the team's defense is at overall, he knows that depth is a factor in terms of what kind of defense his team will be able to play.
"That's a problem with your depth because Bobby, Quentin and Alex were 7, 8 and 9 for a reason more so than Michael (Copeland) and Will (Graves). Usually, that's the defensive part of it. So that's again part of the problem that you have when you start losing some people that are in your regular rotation," Williams said. "I can go through Danny and feel very, very confident. I said the other day I felt like I have six starters anyway. Then after that, it is a little bit of a reach. It helps to have Quentin back. With each game that we get Will some more time I think that helps him. But there is no question it's a big concern for us."
Despite the adversity, this team feels that it will be better for having to make adjustments like this now instead of having key team members injured later in the season. "Any obstacles that we have now are going to be better for us in the future. We have a couple guys out. But it's better to have them now than in Tournament time because I think now, if we get used to adjusting, when it comes Tournament time if we have any obstacles, I think we'll be used to it and we'll be ready and prepared and our guys will be able to step up," Green said. "Right now, we're looking for guys to step up and guys have been stepping up. Will Graves and Mike Copeland are stepping up off the bench and hopefully they'll be doing it in the future if we have any other problems in the Tournament or in the future."
Clemson has a solid nine-man rotation that averages double-digit minutes. Only one Tiger - K.C. Rivers - averages over 30 minutes a game. Eight of those nine players in the rotation are averaging over 15 minutes a game.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency at Littlejohn Coliseum will be 87.9 FM.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
Fox Sports Net coverage: The game will be available on Fox Sports Net (FSN).
Names To Know
Tyler Hansbrough: Hansbrough, although it seems impossible, is having his best season as a Tar Heel. He leads the ACC in scoring at 22.4 points per game, in rebounding at 9.6 per game and in offensive rebounding at 4.1 per game. He ranks second in field-goal percentage (58.5%), fifth in defensive rebounds (5.4) and 17th in minutes played (29.6). He also leads the league in free throws made by a large margin with 113 - 90 more than any Tar Heel and 51 more than the next-closest player in the ACC.
In Carolina's last five games (all non-conference home wins), Hansbrough has shot 70.2% from the field, 87.5% from the free-throw line (9.6 attempts per game and 8.4 made free throws per game), 24.4 points, 9.2 rebounds (3.2 offensive rebounds), 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals in 28.8 minutes per game. He has made 14-of-18 shots in the last two games (77.9%) and 20-of-21 free throws, pulling down 19 rebounds and dishing out three assists. Hansbrough is often criticized for his seeming inability to pass the ball to teammates, yet he has had eight assists in Carolina's last six games, notching at least one assist in each game. He had just three assists in Carolina's first eight games and had five games without one assist.
Against Kent State, Hansbrough had a "normal" night, scoring 25 points on 7-of-10 shooting (11-of-11 from the free-throw line) and adding six rebounds. Fifteen of his 25 points came in the second half. By himself, he went on a 6-0 run in a little over a minute in the second half. He came back in later and outscored Kent State 7-0 in two minutes, turning a 21-point lead into a 28-point lead.
"It's just like a train just plowing through there. You've just got to hop on the train and just follow him. He creates a lot of energy out there on the court, a lot of momentum for this team," Marcus Ginyard said. "When he gets in those moments like that where he's just going and going and going, you've just got to hop on the train. Just feed him the ball, be there ready for him to kick it back out when they double-team him and just run with it."
Throughout his career, Hansbrough's will power has been enough to carry Carolina past depth issues it has had in the post in previous seasons. If he can go on runs like he did against Kent State, he could be able to will the Tar Heels to victory.
Ty Lawson: Lawson ranks third on the team in scoring and 18th in the ACC at 13.0 points per game. He is second behind only Tyler Hansbrough in field-goal percentage, shooting 56.6% from the floor. That figure would be good enough for third place in the league behind Hansbrough - but he has made just 4.6 field goals per game, 0.4 short of the 5.0 it takes to qualify for that category.
In Carolina's last four games, he has shot 22-of-40 from the field (55%) and has made 5-of-13 three-pointers. He dished out 27 assists, had 12 steals and 11 turnovers in that span. After playing three straight solid games after returning from injury in Carolina's final three road games in the non-conference schedule, Lawson has seemingly alternated good and bad games. His best stretch was against Santa Barbara and Nevada when he combined to shoot 13-of-23 from the field and score 31 points, dish out 16 assists to five turnovers and nab nine steals. Then against Valparaiso, he had just six points (a season low) on 2-of-6 shooting and 1-of-4 from the three-point line, pairing his four assists with three turnovers. Against Kent State, Lawson started out slowly and had a few careless turnovers. Even though he had ten points in the first half on 4-of-8 shooting, he had four assists and three turnovers. In the second half, he had seven points on 3-of-3 shooting (1-of-1 from the three-point line) and added three assists, one steal and no turnovers.
Lawson ranks fourth in the league in assists (5.5 per game) and third in the league in assist-turnover ratio at 1.97 (71 assists to 36 turnovers). Of the top ten in the ACC in that category, only Tyrese Rice is averaging more turnovers (3.0) per game. Turnovers have been a bit of a problem this year more than last, as he is averaging 2.8 turnovers a game this season compared to 2.2 last season. In Carolina's last three games, he has ten turnovers. That followed a stretch of three games where he had just five turnovers.
"Ty had three turnovers at half and two of them were just careless. In the second half, he had zero turnovers. If we have better spacing, he can get the ball to the front of the rim and I think that helped us a great deal as well," Williams said. "I've been on him the last couple of days in practice and in games to shoot the outside shot because he really is a good shooter. He's been catching the ball and not even thinking about shooting. I told him he doesn't have to shoot it but at least put his arm underneath it and make them think he's going to shoot. That makes the guy come up on him even more and then he can go by him."
In Carolina's first 11 games (Lawson's first ten games), he hit 7-of-21 three-pointers (33.3%). In the last two games, he has shot 4-of-9 from beyond the arc (44.4%), heeding the call of his Coach to shoot more. "Sometimes, I hesitate before I shoot it which throws off my shot a lot. So he (Williams) just says, `Don't even think twice about it, just shoot it,'" Lawson said.
Lawson has attempted at least three free throws in all but four games this season. One was the game against BYU in which he went out early with an injury. The other three have come in the last four games. In Lawson's first 11 games this season, he averaged 4.1 free throw attempts per game and made 3.4. In the last two games, Lawson has made just 1-of-3 free throws (0.5 made and 1.5 attempted per game).
Defensively, when he is focused and motivated he is one of the best in the league. His 2.1 steals per game lead Carolina and rank fourth in the ACC. But Lawson will need to play significant minutes and one problem that has plagued him throughout his career is foul trouble. He seems to have gotten his foul situation under control. He began the season with 19 fouls in the first six full games that he played in, or 3.2 fouls per game. In Carolina's last six games, Lawson has just eight fouls, or 1.3 per game. He also had his first foul-free game against Kent State.
Last season against Clemson, Lawson had perhaps his worst game as a Tar Heel. He scored a career-low two points on 1-of-4 shooting and had three assists, two steals, four fouls and a whopping seven turnovers, a career high. But he is no longer the confused freshman playing in only his fourth ACC game and facing an overwhelming Clemson full-court press. "It was terrible. I think I had five turnovers in the first half or something like that. They kind of rattled me out there. So I'm ready for it this year because it left a bad taste in my mouth," Lawson said.
Wayne Ellington: The evolution of Ellington's game is well-documented. He is fifth in the ACC and second on the team in scoring (16.7 points per game) and ranks sixth in the ACC in field-goal percentage (47.5%). But Ellington has also added an element of physicality to his game, finishing at the basket with contact, pulling down rebounds (3.9 per game) and playing solid defense.
In Carolina's last two games, Ellington had nine assists to just one turnover. His six assists against Valparaiso tied a career high. That performance - six assists to no turnovers in a game in which he shot 2-of-10 from the field - is one he may not have been able to put up last season. Ellington has not only added dimensions to his game, but he has also become more capable mentally of dealing with a poor performance. He rebounded the next night against Kent State by shooting 8-of-11 from the field, 1-of-3 from behind the arc, on his way to 17 points.
"That was a problem for me last year. If I missed my first 1-2 shots I kind of got down on myself and lost some confidence and I missed some more. But this year, I kind of focused on instead of taking tough shots right out of the jump to get some easy baskets, get out of the break and get some lay-ups, get loose before I step outside and start taking more perimeter shots," Ellington said.
Carolina has relied largely on Ellington and Hansbrough for scoring at times when points were scarce. With the rotation limited, Ellington's ability to score becomes that much more important. Last season against the Clemson pressure, Ellington performed quite well, scoring 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting and adding four assists in 23 minutes.
K.C. Rivers: The 6-6 junior guard/forward is leading Clemson in scoring this season at 16.0 points per game and ranks second on the team in rebounding at 7.3 per game. He leads the team in offensive rebounds with 40 and ranks second in steals with 21. His 16.0 points per game rank seventh in the ACC and his 7.3 boards rank tenth in the league. He is the only wing player to rank in the top 10 in the league in rebounding. He also ranks third in the league in offensive rebounding with 3.1 per game. He is shooting 47% from the field, seventh in the ACC. He is also tied for ninth in the league in steals with 1.6 per game.
Rivers has scored in double figures in 18 straight games dating back to last year. Last season, Rivers had just four points against Carolina, which ended his streak of 18 straight games in double digits. Rivers has continued to improve each season, and his rebounding is the most dramatic one, from 4.8 his freshman season to 4.5 last season all the way up to 7.3 this year. He averaged 2.0 offensive boards his freshman year, 1.6 last season and is averaging 3.1 this season. He shot 37.7% from the field as a freshman, 46.2% as a sophomore and is shooting 47% this year. His assist-turnover ratio has improved from 1.19 his freshman year to 1.48 last season and up to 1.86 this season (26 assists to 14 turnovers). He has shot 20-of-32 (62.5%) in Clemson's last three games and 14-of-23 (60.9%) in Clemson's last two games, both wins. Against Alabama, Rivers had 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting and added eight rebounds, two assists and a steal in 32 minutes.
Terrence Oglesby: Terrence Oglesby, a 6-2 guard, is already one of the best freshmen in the league so far this season. He is 25th in the ACC in scoring (12.5 points per game), third in three-point percentage (35-of-79, 44.3%) and second in three-pointers made per game (2.7). He has made 30 of his last 56 three-pointers (53.6%) and in the last four games, he has made 16-of-28 (57.1%). He is second on the team in scoring and in free-throw percentage (84.4%). From two-point range, he is shooting just 15-of-35 (42.9%). Of his field goal attempts, 69.2% have been three-pointers.
The freshman is not a starter, but gives Clemson an added dimension of coming off the bench and averaging 17.6 minutes per game, providing a scoring spark. He is averaging 0.71 points per minute, best on the team. He has eight double-figure scoring efforts in his young career, including in each of the last six games. In the last six games, Oglesby is averaging 17.0 points in 20.3 minutes per game, or 0.83 points per minute. He has shot 53.1% from the field and 54.5% from the three-point line. In Clemson's first seven games, Oglesby shot 32% from the field and 31.4% from beyond the arc, averaging 8.6 points per game during that span. He has also increased his rebounding average to 2.5 in the last six games from 1.0 in the first seven and his assists from 1.0 per game in the first seven games to 2.3 in the last six. He has decreased his turnovers from 1.7 in the first seven games to 1.0 in the last six, and his minutes have gone up from 15.3 to 20.3. Against Alabama, Oglesby had 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting (5-of-9 from beyond the arc) and added five rebounds (a season high), three assists and no turnover in 25 minutes.
Cliff Hammonds: The 6-3 senior guard ranks fourth in the team in scoring (10.2 points per game), but he is leading the team in steals with 28, in assists with 53, and in three-point percentage among starters (29-of-62, 46.8%). He ranks ninth in the ACC in three-pointers made per game (2.23). Hammonds has eight double-figure scoring games this season, but has gone three straight games without hitting double figures. After shooting 4-of-11 (1-of-5 from the three-point line) in the loss to Mississippi, he has since 3-of-8 (2-of-5 from beyond the arc) since, scoring eight points in two games. In the last three games, he has 16 assists to six turnovers. He also has five steals in the last three games and has at least one steal in every game this season. His 2.2 steals per game rank third in the ACC.
Against Alabama, he had five points on 2-of-5 shooting and added two rebounds, two assists, four turnovers and two steals in 24 minutes. He still leads the league in assist-turnover at 2.94 (53 assists to 18 turnovers) and ranks seventh in the league in assists (4.1 per game). The senior is very experienced and savvy and ranks seventh in the league in minutes played (32.6 per game), so Lawson will have a tough time tiring him out.
Hammonds is the starting two-guard in Clemson's offense, but he is sharing the backcourt with freshman point guard Demontez Stitt. Carolina likely won't be able to rattle the freshman with the experienced Hammonds right there to handle the load. "I think Cliff Hammonds is still going to do a huge part of the ball handling. But we'll try to see how not only does the freshman (Stitt) handle the pressure but everybody does. That's just our normal game plan. But still, Hammonds is the veteran back there that sort of gives everybody a little bit of calmness," Williams said.
Quotables
"Richard Scott at Kansas is third in field goal percentage in Kansas basketball history at over 60 percent, and he shot 48 percent for his career from the free-throw line. It's the reason there's long putters on the PGA Tour. They don't have the long putters from the free throw line. If they did, there would be a hell of a lot of them being used." -Roy Williams, On Cliff Hammonds shooting well from the field but poorly from the free-throw line
"After the games, we have to get the extra ice bucket out to soak his (Greg Little's) elbow ... If he runs through those lines as fast as he gets shots up, he's going to be a Heisman Trophy winner. The boy's not bashful. There's only two times you should shoot the ball - when you got it and you're open, and when you've got it and you're not open. That's what you see beside Greg Little's name on his picture." -Roy Williams
"It was all chocolate nut sundae with extra nuts on it the other night. Well tonight, by God it was a mouth full of grass. He's got to learn how to fix the best meal so I'll enjoy watching him eat it." -Roy Williams on Will Graves' game against Kent State
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
