Only four Atlantic Coast Conference teams have unbeaten league records, and two of them will meet Wednesday night at Clemson, S.C.
Fresh off an upset, No. 24 SMU will arrive to take on Clemson.
“We have some goals we want to accomplish and we want to compete,” Mustangs coach Andy Enfield said. “Our players believe we can compete for an ACC championship. Our players are bought in and they’re competing.”
SMU (12-2, 1-0 ACC) opened league play with Saturday’s toppling of then-No. 12 North Carolina. That marked the Mustangs’ first victory against a ranked opponent in almost four years.
Yet regardless of conference, it’s no surprise that SMU opened strong because the team has won its last 12 league openers.
Guard Boopie Miller has scored in double figures in 22 consecutive games after posting 27 points against the Tar Heels.
“One of the best performances I’ve seen for a guard like this to not only score this many points but to have 12 assists in one game, on this stage,” Enfield said.
Miller is averaging 20.4 points for a team scoring 91.5 points per game.
Clemson (12-3, 2-0) will play its conference home opener after winning at Syracuse and Pitt, marking the first time the Tigers have begun ACC play with back-to-back road victories. Clemson has a five-game winning streak, with all the results by single-digit margins.
“Obviously a good start,” Tigers coach Brad Brownell said. “We’ve got 16 more games. … I think our team has improved a lot over the last month because we’ve practiced more, we’ve had more time for film. It has helped us grow.”
A pair of narrow ACC triumphs seemed normal for the Tigers.
“We’ve been in that position a lot this year,” Clemson guard Jestin Porter said.
The Tigers received a boost from Porter’s season-high 21 points against Pitt. That marked the first time a Clemson player reached the 20-point mark this season.
Three players — RJ Godfrey (11.7), Porter (11.1) and Carter Welling (10.1) — average in double figures for the Tigers. Four other players provide at least 6.9 points per game.
“That’s the one thing about our team, we have pretty good depth,” Brownell said.
Brownell said the Tigers need to be cognizant of attacking on offense so they can earn more free-throw attempts.
“Sometimes it’s not easy for us to score,” he said.
Clemson’s defense will have to be aware of SMU’s shooters after the Mustangs drained 14 of 27 shots from 3-point range Saturday. Corey Washington made a career-high five 3s in the game.
“You have to have to have offensive players talented enough and unselfish enough to make the right pass at the right time,” Enfield said.
Enfield said guard play dictates how the Mustangs perform.
“Our best players are our three guards,” he said.
The Mustangs are 1-1 in true road games. After the trip to Clemson, they go to No. 6 Duke.
“We have a big week ahead of us,” Enfield said. “But for now, how (our players have) handled themselves since the Christmas break has been over has been terrific and very focused.”
–Field Level Media
