College Basketball Preview: Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Clemson Tigers
Written By David Hess (Follow me on Twitter @DavidHess311)
When: 9:00 PM ET, Monday, February 8, 2016
Where: Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, South Carolina
Lines: Clemson -1
Total: 141
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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish come in off a huge home win over North Carolina, which now puts them at 7-4 in the ACC, while the Clemson Tigers come in at 7-4 in the ACC as well, but they have lost three of their last five games in conference, following a 60-57 loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Colson Leads Irish To Big Win Over Heels
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have had a solid year, but they did go limping into their game with the Tar Heels off a 79-70 road loss at the hands of the Miami and two games earlier they were beaten by 15 at Syracuse. Still playing on the road and at home can be night and day for the Irish as they are very tough to beat on their home floor and the Heels found that out. The Irish trailed by as much as 18 in the game and by as much as 15 in the second half, but Bonzie Colson (19 points & 10 boards) led the comeback as he continually got the loose balls and made some big shots down the stretch as well. He just refused to let them lose and so did Zach Auguste, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds and two big blocks.
Demetrius Jackson also had a solid game with 19 points, while rounding out the double digit scores for the Irish is Steve Vasturia (13) and V.J. Beachem (10). Jackson leads the team in scoring at 16.1 ppg, while Auguste is 2nd at 13.9 ppg and leads them in rebounding at 10.9 rpg. The Irish are a strong offensive team, scoring 78.5 ppg, which is 61st in the nation, and on 48.7% shooting, which is 16th. At the defensive end of the floor they have been rather average as they come in ranked 147th in points allowed, giving up 70.1 ppg, while allowing 43.4% shooting, which is 187th. The Irish really struggle at defending the three, where they ballow 38.9% shooting, which is 338th in the land.
Offense Struggles In Loss To The Hokies
The Clemson Tigers are not a great offensive team as it is, but still they should have had a better showing than they did in their 60-57 loss at Virginia Tech, who is not a good defensive team. The Tigers were able to muster their 57 points on just 35.1% shooting overall, while hitting just 7-28 from downtown, which is good for just 28%. Landry Nnoko led the Tigers in the game with 17 points, while also pulling down 12 rebounds as well. Jordan Roper had 16 points and Donte Grantham had 11 points to round out the double digit scores in the game for the Tigers. Jaron Blossomgame is the team’s leading scorer at 16.8, but he was not much of a factor in the has he put up just 8 points.
For the year Donte Grantham (10.3) ppg and Jordan Roper (10 ppg) are the only two other players that average in double figures for the Tigers. Blossomgame leads them in rebounding at 7.0 rpg. The defense is what really fuels this team and they did have a good game vs the Hokies, holding them to just 37.5% shooting overall, including just 25% (4-16) from long range. Clemson has been a strong defensive club this year4 as they rank 17th in points allowed, giving up just 63 ppg and 94th in defensive FG% at 41.4%. They have needed that defense as their offense is 270th in scoring, putting up 69.1 ppg, on 43% shooting, which is 237th.
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[529) Notre Dame +1 Over Clemson
The Fighting Irish haven’t been great on the road this year and they are off a storm the court win over the Tar Heels, but still they cannot afford to let down here, especially vs a team that they are tied with in the league standings. The Tigers own the better defense here, but the Irish are far better on offense and they should be able to shoot over the Clemson defense as they are one of the best shooting teams in the nation. This Irish won at Duke this year and they can win here as well.
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