Building resumes for the NCAA Tournament will be a priority when No. 18 Clemson travels to Dallas to play SMU in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers (21-5, 13-2) are tied with Louisville for second place in the conference, trailing Duke by 1 1/2 games. Clemson has won three consecutive games and nine of the past 10, including a 72-46 thrashing of Florida State last Saturday in the Tigers’ most recent game.
The Mustangs (20-6, 11-4) are tied for fourth place in the ACC with Wake Forest. SMU has won six of its past seven games, including 97-73 at Notre Dame on Wednesday.
Both Clemson and SMU have five regular-season games remaining and are seeking to finish among the top four seeds in the conference. Those four will get a two-round bye in next month’s ACC tournament.
Clemson is trying to win its first regular-season ACC championship since 1990.
SMU guard Boopie Miller leads a Mustangs roster that includes six players averaging more than 10 points per game. Miller averages 13.4 points as well as a team-high 5.7 assists.
Kario Oquendo was 8 of 10 from the field in scoring a team-high 25 points against the Irish. He was 3 of 5 from 3-point range for the Mustangs, who lead the ACC with an average of 82.7 points per game. SMU’s Matt Cross grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
“This team has really improved since the start of the season,” coach Andy Enfield said of the Mustangs. “(Clemson) is very tough. They just beat Duke last week. They’re big, they have shooters and they’re really good defensively.”
The Tigers’ 77-71 home victory over then-No. 2 Duke on Feb. 8 was the highlight of their recent surge. Viktor Lakhin paced Clemson with 22 points.
Chase Hunter leads the Tigers with an average of 17 ppg this season. Ian Schieffelin is next at 12.5, and Lakhin is third at 11.
Schieffelin also averages a team-high 9.6 rebounds per game along with 3.0 assists. He notched his 10th double-double of the season with 14 points (shooting 60 percent from the field) and 12 rebounds against Florida State.
Clemson’s victory was the Tigers’ sixth ACC road win, a single-season school record.
Tigers coach Brad Brownell praised the Mustangs ahead of Saturday’s game.
“They play fast, shoot the ball well, they have experienced older guards and have good size inside, so they are a good team and certainly will be a good challenge for us,” Brownell said.
Clemson is fifth in the ACC in scoring at 77.4 points per game and third in defense, giving up 66.4. SMU is ninth in defense at 71.4 ppg allowed.
After playing Clemson on Saturday, the Mustangs will finish the regular season with road games against Cal, Stanford and Florida State, and a home game against Syracuse. Clemson will finish with home games against Notre Dame and Virginia Tech and away games vs. Virginia and Boston College.
The ACC tournament will be March 11-15 in Charlotte, N.C.
–Field Level Media
