Tigers go West with big dreams, challenge with two-seed Arizona on deck

Clemson arrived in LA on Monday and looks to be ready for a big challenge with Arizona come Thursday. (Photo: Jayne Kamin Oncea / USATODAY)

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Wed Mar 27 16:14:46 GMT-04:00 2024

Another upset and Clemson men’s basketball has two all-time Elite Eight appearances and a second shot at the program's first Final Four.

And there is no question that the latter event is on Clemson head coach Brad Brownell and his team’s mind going into the West Region action in Los Angeles, no matter the odds.

“We came back from Christmas (break) and got smacked in the mouth by some teams in our league,” Brownell said Wednesday of the Tigers’ January ACC start. “Had a hard time stringing some games together. We lost a bunch of close games…At one point, I told our team, ‘Guys, we need to understand something. I think some of you guys think we’re the 10-1 team, and right now, we’re the 4-6 team. If we’re the 4-6 team again, I don’t think we’re going to be playing in the NCAA Tournament.’ And I said that’d be a shame for what we did the first two months of the year, but also because I think we’re good enough to go to the Final Four.”

“Don’t just be happy to be here,” Brownell told the team upon arrival in Southern California.

The sixth-seeded Tigers (23-11) are a Vegas underdog (+7.5) for a third consecutive game in this NCAA Tournament, facing two-seed Arizona (27-8) in the 7:09 p.m. EDT tip on Thursday to start the Sweet 16 (CBS). The program is seeking its first Elite Eight appearance since 1980.

Clemson flipped the script on the two matchups in Memphis last week, winning by 21 points as a 2.5-point dog to New Mexico and by eight points as a 4.5-point dog to Baylor.

"Coming into the tournament, I think coach said it the other day, we had a pretty quiet confidence about ourselves," Clemson star big man PJ Hall said. "We had a lot of people talking about us...We were the underdog for the first (game). It was kind of a slap in the face. So, you go into that having a quiet confidence and chip on your shoulder knowing we can come in here and make some noise has been our attitude. Keeping that confidence is huge."

The Pac-12 regular season No. 1 Arizona, which comes in ranked No. 5 by the KenPom ratings (No. 9 offense/No. 10 defense) to Clemson’s No. 23 (No. 24 offense/No. 38 defense), has two wins over shared opponents with early season triumphs at Duke (78-73) and over Alabama (87-74; neutral site in Phoenix). The Tigers suffered the hard-luck loss in Cameron to Duke in late January, 72-71, and won at Alabama, 85-77, in November.

“I’ve watched them a good bit throughout the year…Super dynamic offensively,” Brownell said. “Really good inside-out offense, a little bit like we play. We’re very familiar with Caleb Love and how good a player he is from his time at North Carolina. Know it will be a raucous crowd with a lot of Arizona fans. But we’re super-excited to be here. Our guys have worked really hard, and we’re looking forward to the opportunity.”

Love won Pac-12 player of the year, and he’s scored 18.5 points with seven rebounds, five assists and 1.5 steals per game in the NCAAs. Love scored 23 points, with six of his seven made field goals on 3-pointers, in a 91-71 2023 home win in his last meeting with the Tigers.

Arizona also features a roster with two 7-footers averaging double-figure minutes with Oumar Ballo (7’0; 12.9 PPG/10 RPG/1.3 BPG in 25.8 MPG) and Motiejus Krivas (7’2; 5.5 PPG/4.3 RPG/0.5 BPG in 12.2 MPG). Of the two, only Ballo has scored in double-figures this tournament, and that was 11 points versus 15-seed Long Beach State.

The Wildcats meet a Tigers team that has improved greatly down the stretch on defense. Over the last five weeks, Clemson has moved up 30 spots in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings to the Top 40 (38).

“There’s a lot of good players on that team, and one thing that we’ve tried to do these past few games is try to make guys uncomfortable. Try to get guys out of a rhythm,” Hall said. “I think that’s kind of the same thing for this game. That’s kind of the same thing in general for all games with a great player (like Love). You have to try to limit the chances.”

“Make sure they're not getting the easy looks, making sure we're closing out hard on them, not letting them get in the lane,” senior Clemson guard Chase Hunter said, who’s averaging 20.5 points in the NCAA Tournament. “The thing is, they've got to guard us too. Making things hard for them offensively as well.”

Hall has struggled to stay on the court lately, which is critical to the challenge of Arizona’s frontcourt. Coming into the NCAAs, Hall made first-team All-ACC, averaging 18.8 points and 29.5 minutes a game, but in Memphis, he was limited to 19 minutes on average and 12.5 points per.

“Probably just not put myself in positions to get those early fouls and dumb fouls,” Hall said of his mindset. “I do my work early and make sure I'm putting myself in positions to succeed, fighting early and stuff like that.

“Also, as corny as it sounds, sticking to your fundamentals. Not using your hands, using your elbows and forearms and stuff and make sure you're not grabbing. All the stupid stuff that gets you those dumb fouls, try to stay away from that.”

The victor faces the winner Saturday (time to be announced) between 1-seed UNC and 4-seed Alabama in the scheduled 9:39 p.m. EDT Thursday start (CBS) at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center).