Ranked in the Top 25 for the third straight season, No. 16 Clemson will look to add another resume-boosting win Saturday when it hosts Memphis.
Following victories over then-No. 4 Kentucky and Atlantic Coast Conference foe Miami, Clemson (9-1) springboarded into the AP poll this week.
Hoping to remain in the rankings, coach Brad Brownell’s team will host a Memphis squad that rose to No. 16 before dropping out after an 85-72 home loss to Arkansas State on Sunday.
A driving force in Clemson’s hot start — and current six-game winning streak — is the nation’s leading rebounder, Ian Schieffelin.
The senior pairs his 12.6 points per game with 12.6 rebounds per contest, including a 20-rebound outing against Kentucky. Schieffelin has hauled in at least nine boards in each game this year, tallying double-digit rebounds in seven of Clemson’s 10 contests.
“He’s a relentless competitor,” Brownell said. “He certainly has a knack for knowing where the ball is going to be. I think he has a willingness to sustain effort and consistently go after the ball, which most guys give in after a while.”
Clemson, a veteran-led group, is getting a team-high 15.9 points per game from sixth-year senior Chase Hunter.
Slowing down Memphis’ guards will be a key for Brownell’s team on Saturday. PJ Haggerty’s average of 23 points per game ranks fifth in the nation, while fellow backcourt members Tyrese Hunter (15.2 ppg) and Colby Rogers (12.4) also make significant contributions.
“(Memphis) has got really good guard play,” Brownell said. “Haggerty is tremendous; he might lead the country in guards who draw fouls. He gets in the paint, lives in the paint, he can make plays for himself and his teammates. Hunter is similar; he can really shoot the ball. Those two guys are incredible.”
Haggerty put up 29 points in loss to Arkansas State, but Memphis (7-2) couldn’t climb out of an early 18-point first-half hole. Memphis coach Penny Hardaway knows slow starts aren’t a recipe for success.
“We’ve got to carry over what we do in practice into the games,” Hardaway said. “We can’t keep having these slow starts. We haven’t had fast starts in a lot of our games. You’ve got to want it more. We don’t see the energy at the beginning of the games, and I don’t know why.
“This is a new team still trying to figure things out, and we won some big games early. Then you lose a game like (Arkansas State) and it shocks you because we didn’t compete. When you don’t compete, you don’t deserve to win. When you don’t compete, you give yourself an opportunity to lose a game, and when you do, you’ve got to learn from it.”
A season ago, Memphis began 15-2, including a 79-77 home win over Clemson, before unraveling down the stretch and missing the NCAA Tournament. Hardaway won’t allow the comparisons to last year’s disappointment.
“This is a totally different team,” he said. “We’ve been playing good ball, and I’m not going to panic after one loss.”
Saturday will mark the second meeting all-time between the programs.
