University of North Carolina Athletics
Clemson Game Guide
January 13, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2010
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 12/13 Carolina (12-4, 1-0) will open its ACC road schedule at No. 24/19 Clemson (13-3, 1-1) on Wednesday night. Carolina beat Virginia Tech 78-64 in its ACC opener on Sunday night at home. Clemson is coming off of a 72-56 win over Boston College at home on Saturday. The Tigers lost their ACC opener to Duke on January 3rd in Durham, 74-53. Clemson has won seven of its last eight games and are 8-1 in Littlejohn. Carolina is 11-0 at home but 1-4 outside the Smith Center and 0-2 in true road games. Carolina leads the all-time series with Clemson, 122-19, and has won ten straight.
Game Time: Carolina at Clemson, 9:00 PM.
Last Time: No. 5 Carolina beat No. 10 Clemson 94-70 at home in the only meeting between the teams last season on January 21, 2009. A 24-4 run spanning both halves helped put the game away. Carolina was down 38-36 with 3:31 to go in the first but a 9-2 run to end the half and a 15-2 run after that made it 60-42 with 14:31 left. Carolina shot 53% for the game and had 25 assists to just 13 turnovers. Clemson shot 35.3 percent. Clemson killer Wayne Ellington led Carolina with 25 points, adding six rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points and a game-high ten rebounds. Ty Lawson had 16 points and Deon Thompson added 15 points. Terrence Oglesby led Clemson with 22 points; he was the only Tiger in double figures. Trevor Booker had just seven points and four rebounds. Jerai Grant added five blocks.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage will begin at 8:00 PM.
Storylines
Ball security: Against Virginia Tech, Carolina had 18 turnovers but 12 of those came in the first half. The 22.5% loss of ball was Carolina's highest percentage since 22.6% against Ohio State in the fourth game of the year and the third-highest of the season. Fortunately for Carolina, Virginia Tech could only turn those 18 turnovers into six scores (13 points), missing seven baskets and turning it back over four times. And that has been the difference for Carolina this season - in four losses, opponents have converted 53% of Carolina's turnovers into points. In Carolina's 12 wins, opponents have scored on just 32.5% of Carolina's turnovers. Carolina has also been able to follow up a turnover with a forced turnover about 20% of the time in their 12 wins and 12% in losses. Opponents are averaging 20.8 points off of 16 Carolina turnovers in the Tar Heels' four losses compared to 11.8 points on 16.4 turnovers in 12 wins. Clemson, which thrives on forcing turnovers, has had a similar problem. Clemson has turned 19.5 opponent turnovers into 24.2 points in its 13 wins, but forced just 16.9 turnovers in three losses and converted those into just 14.7 points. In 13 wins, opponents are scoring 9.4 points on 15.2 Clemson turnovers compared to 17.7 points on 16 Clemson turnovers in three Tigers' losses.
Carolina has had some particularly bad stretches against Kentucky, Texas and College of Charleston that were characterized by high numbers of turnovers. In those three stretches, which combined totaled nearly a half of basketball (19 minutes, 54 seconds), Carolina was outscored 60-15 and had 40% loss of ball (15 turnovers in 39 possessions). So it's no coincidence that opponents scored 20 points off turnovers and 12 fastbreak points in that span compared to 41 points off turnovers and 32 fastbreak points in the other 105 minutes of those games. Carolina got away from its game and managed just five points off turnovers and two fastbreak points in that span compared to 44 points off turnovers and 22 fastbreak points the rest of those games. Carolina can't have stretches like that when it gets out of what it wants to do and turns it over excessively to win on the road.
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports network at the game: The in-stadium frequency in Littlejohn Coliseum is not yet known.
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.
ESPN coverage: The game will be available on ESPN.
Names To Know
Will Graves: After making just 1-of-6 shots in the first half against Virginia Tech, Graves went 4-of-4 in the second and hit some huge three's, but he also made some inspiring hustle plays and had two blocks. "I was just trying to let everything else take care of the offense - playing hard on (defense), I think I got a steal early in the second half and some big-time rebounds. It gets your adrenaline going and then everything else takes care of itself." In six ACC games last season, he had one assist to ten turnovers. He has dramatically improved that this season; his nine errors are fewest among all Tar Heels averaging double-figure minutes. He has been willing to take on the aggressiveness this team sometimes lacks on the road, attempting 5.9 shots at home compared to 10.8 on the road. The problem is he is making just 34.9% of those shots away compared to 41.5% at home. While he has made just 36.6% of his three's in the Smith Center, he has made 45.5% of his three's away, including 6-of-10 in his last two road games. If Carolina can get other players going, Graves will be able to fill his role better - getting rebounds, making hustle plays and making three-pointers to keep defenses honest.
Marcus Ginyard: When Larry Drew II picked up his third foul and Dexter Strickland quickly followed with two against Virginia Tech, Carolina was in big trouble. But having the ability to rotate guys like Ginyard, Strickland and McDonald on Malcolm Delaney to save Drew from fouling out completely changed the game. Ginyard was not even expected to play, but he worked hard to get back and gave this young team a much-needed security blanket. "I was shocked to see him in practice making some defensive stops because that was my question," Graves said. "Then the first play he's in practice, he gets a steal. I'm like, `Yep, that's Marcus Ginyard.'" Carolina did not have that at Charleston. And it also lacked perhaps its steadiest road performer this season. Ginyard has shot 45.7% from the floor and 50% from beyond the arc in four games outside the Smith Center, averaging 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds (2.3 offensive boards), 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals. He has experienced life on the road in ACC play, and he has had some nice games against Clemson as well. In the 2008 ACC Tournament title game, Ginyard had ten points and nine rebounds. In the overtime win in 2008 at Clemson, he had just six points but played 36 minutes and had 10 rebounds (four offensive), four assists and two steals.
Trevor Booker: The senior forward is one of the more talented players in the league, averaging 14.8 points and 8.4 rebounds. His 1.6 steals and 1.4 blocks both rank in the top ten of the league. He has shot 42.9% in three losses compared to 55.2% in 13 wins and has averaged 15.1 points and 8.8 rebounds in 13 wins compared to 13.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in three losses. Booker had 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting and five rebounds, two assists, two steals and four blocks in 29 minutes against Boston College. He has played five games against Carolina and he has been in single digits just twice - in his first-ever game against Carolina in 2007 and in the last meeting in 2009 in Chapel Hill. As a freshman, he shot just 2-of-7 and had just four points, but did add five rebounds and eight blocks in 22 minutes. Last year, Deon Thompson played great defense on Booker and held him to seven points on 3-of-6 shooting. He also had four rebounds, his lowest total against Carolina, to go with no blocks and two turnovers in 28 minutes, making him essentially a non-factor on either end. It's not often Booker is held in check that way, but Thompson will need to duplicate that effort.
Demontez Stitt: Carolina has struggled to control quick point guards that will attack the basket, and Stitt certainly fits that bill. In just 28 minutes per game this year, he is averaging 10.9 points, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals. After reaching double figures in just four of Clemson's first 11 games and averaging 9.9 points, Stitt now has averaged 13 points and scored ten or more in the last five. In the last three games, he has averaged 15 and has been increasingly aggressive, averaging 8.7 field goals attempted and 5.7 free-throw attempts. He has 61 assists to 44 turnovers (1.4 ratio) this season. He is second in three-point percentage (39.5%) and in the last five games, he has made 7-of-12 (58.3%) after making 10-of-31 (32.3 percent). He is one of the only reliable Clemson free-throw shooters, making 76.1 percent. In four games against Carolina, Stitt has averaged a team-high 9.8 points, 3.3 assists and 3.5 turnovers. Last year he has by far his roughest outing with four points on 1-of-7 shooting and adding no assists to three turnovers.
Lauren Brownlow is the executive editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
