Clemson is back in the NCAA Tournament. (File ACC photo)

by TigerNet Staff - Sun Mar 14 17:31:46 GMT-04:00 2021

Clemson men’s basketball is dancing again as one of 68 teams set to play in the Indianapolis-hosted NCAA Tournament starting next weekend.

Brad Brownell’s Tigers (16-7) were officially announced as an at-large bid in the field Sunday with a 7-seed to face 10-seed Rutgers (15-11) in the first round Friday (9:20 p.m./TBS). They are matched up in a bracket pod with 2-seed Houston (24-3), the American champion, and 15-seed Cleveland State (19-7) of the Horizon League.

Clemson returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2017-18 season, where it advanced to the Sweet 16 as a 5-seed. This is a third NCAA Tourney appearance under Brownell and a 12th appearance overall in school history.

The Tigers went 7-3 down the stretch and finished 10-6 in ACC action, reaching double-figures in conference wins for only the seventh time in their ACC history.

Four of Clemson’s six non-conference opponents made the NCAA Tournament (all wins), including two conference champions (Alabama of the SEC; Morehead State of the Ohio Valley).

The Tigers have been led by second-team All-ACC forward Aamir Simms, who paced the team in points (13.3), rebounds (6.2), assists (2.7) and blocks (0.7).