Clemson vs. N.C. State Preview

by Dan Scott - Correspondent - Tue Feb 17 18:14:47 GMT-04:00 2004

Who: No. 13 N.C. State (16-5, 9-2 ACC) at Clemson (9-13, 2-9)

Where: Littlejohn Coliseum

When: 7 p.m. (moved from its original 9 p.m. starting time)

TV: Fox Sports South

NOTES

- Sharrod Ford had his sixth double-double of the season and 11th of his career at Florida State when he had 15 points and 10 rebounds. He is currently tied for fourth among active ACC players in that area. Ford had 20 points against NC State in the first meeting in January.

- Clemson had just 13 turnovers against Florida State, a season low for the Tigers. Clemson forced 14 turnovers in that game, just the fourth time this year that Clemson has won the turnover margin stat.

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- Florida State shot exactly 50 percent against Clemson last Saturday, the first time this year that an opponent had shot at least 50 against Clemson.

- Chris Hobbs made 6-7 shots from the field last week and is now shooting 53.92 percent from the field for his career, 12th in school history and just behind Tree Rollins 53.94 figure. Hobbs has 657 career rebounds, 12th in school history and just nine short of the total reached by Donnie Mahaffey (1961-64) who stands in 11th place. Hobbs will probably end his career sandwiched between the four Mahaffeys in the career rebound category. For his career, Hobbs is 30-51 against NC State, and averaged 11.3 points per game in seven games.

- Clemson has lost six in a row to NC State. Clemson's last victory over the Wolfpack came on Jan. 13, 2001 when the Tigers won 72-69 at Littlejohn Coliseum. Hobbs had one of his 12 career double-doubles in the game as he had 10 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes. He also had a career high 3 assists.

- Shawan Robinson is a native of Raleigh and attended Leesville Road High School. Robinson is Clemson's second leading scorer with a 10.9 average. He is tied for the team lead in double figure scoring games with 12 and leads the team in threepoint shooting with a .384 figure. He is eighth in the ACC in three-point percentage.

- Clemson enters this week with an RPI of 67, the highest RPI in the nation for a team with a losing record. In fact, Clemson is the only team among the top 96 teams in the RPI with a losing record. Clemson's strength of schedule according to Sagarin is second in the nation, while RPI ranks Clemson's schedule fourth. The 11 different teams who have beaten Clemson this year are a combined 178-71, a .715 winning percentage.

- Clemson's last two games on Feb. 18 have been landmark victories, a 73-64 last year at Virginia and a 75-65 win over No. 1 North Carolina in 2001.

- Clemson will be shooting for its 50th all-time win over a top 25 team in Littlejohn Coliseum.

Dan Scott covers Clemson University for the Seneca Daily Journal/Clemson Messenger. He also hosts SportsTalk from 9 a.m.-Noon, Monday-Friday, on WCCP-Fm, 104.9. Click here for Dan Scott's SportsTalk discussion board.