Game Notes: NC State vs Clemson |
Site: Littlejohn Coliseum (10,000)
Date: Saturday, January 10, 2009 City: Clemson, SC Time: 12:00 Noon Television: Raycom (Bob Rathbun, Mike Gminski) Radio: Clemson Tiger Radio Network (Pete Yanity, Tim Bourret) Rankings: Clemson--#11 in ESPN/USA Today #12 by Associated Press SERIES HISTORY Overall: N NC State leads 95-44 at Clemson: N NC State leads 31-27 at Littlejohn: Clemson leads 20-17 at NC State: N NC State leads 45-12 at Neutral: N NC State leads 19-5 First Meeting: N NC State, 22-15 at Clemson in 1923-24 Last Year: Clemson 71-64 at Raleigh, Clemson 70-54 in Clemson Streak: Clemson won 3 in row Probable Starting Lineups
CLEMSON NC State
Quick Facts
- The Tigers moved up to #11 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll and #12 by AP on January 5. It is Clemson’s highest ranking in either poll since Nov. 16, 1997 when Clemson was ranked fifth in the AP poll and seven in USA Today.
- Clemson has won 15 consecutive home games, its longest home winning streak since the Tigers won a school record 29 in a row in the Elden Campbell and Dale Davis era (1989-90).
- Clemson has gone over a year without a loss at home. The last home loss was the Charlotte on Jan. 9, 2008, an 82-72 49ers win.
- Clemson’s home winning streak ranks fifth best in the nation entering this weekend. Notre Dame has the longest with 44 in a row, while Kansas is at 33, Davidson 24, and Arkansas 17. Notre Dame and Arkansas have home games on Saturday.
- Clemson is the only school in the nation with a home winning streak and a road winning that ranks in the top 10 among active streaks. Clemson has won four straight on opponent’s home courts, tied for sixth best in the nation. Clemson’s next road game is January 21 at North Carolina.
- Clemson is coming off a 66-59 win over Alabama. That was a season low in points for Clemson, but it was still enough to get the victory, Clemson’s ninth in the last 10 meetings with an SEC school
- KC. Rivers needs just seven points to move into 10th place on Clemson’s career scoring list. He has 1457 career points, just six short of the 1463 by Tree Rollins.
- Rivers can tie the Clemson record for victories played in if the Tigers beat NC State. He has played in 83 wins one behind the total by Cliff Hammonds (2004-08) and Elden Campbell (1986-90).
- Clemson forwards Jerai Grant and David Potter will both celebrate birthdays on Saturday. Grant will turn 20, while Potter will turn 22.
- When Grant scores his first two points against NC State it will give him 144 career points, the exact same total his father had for the Tigers during the 1984-85 season. He is already far ahead of his father’s blocked shot total. Harvey had just 13 and Jerai already has 43.
- The Tigers are 15-0 for the second time in the last three seasons. In 2006-07, Clemson was the nation’s last remaining unbeaten team at 17-0. The Tigers are one of only three undefeated teams remaining in Division I. The others are Wake Forest, and #1 ranked Pittsburgh.
- Terrence Oglesby has made at least one three point goal in 23 consecutive games, tied for the fifth longest streak in Clemson history. The record is 45 in a row by Cliff Hammonds.
Clemson vs. N.C. State Series
- N.C. State has a 95-44 record against Clemson overall. N.C. State has a 45-12 lead in games at Raleigh and a 19-5 lead in games on neutral sites.
- The Pack has a 31-27 lead in games at Clemson, but the Tigers have a 20-17 advantage in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson has more wins over NC State in Littlejohn Coliseum in conference
play than any other school. (Clemson has beaten Georgia Tech 27 times, but some were non-conference games). Clemson won the game at Clemson last year 70-54, but NC State won the previous two at Littlejohn Coliseum including a thrilling 94-85 double overtime game in 2005-06.
- Clemson won its first game in the RBC Center in 1999-00 on NC State’s Senior Night, then struggled for the next four games, losing four straight by a total of 102 points, or an average
defeat of 25 points per game. But Clemson has won each of the last two meetings between the two teams in Raleigh, 87-76 in 2006-07 and 71-64 last year.
- Clemson has won three in a row over NC State, and has a 4-3 advantage in the series since Oliver Purnell became the head coach. He is 3-0 against NC State since Sidney Lowe took over.
- The two teams played just once for three consecutive years through 2006-07, but Clemson won both meetings last year. They will play just once this year. Clemson’s two game sweep last year was the first sweep for Clemson in the series since 1999-00.
- NC State has a history of upsetting Clemson teams in Raleigh. In 1996-97 Clemson came to Raleigh ranked seventh in the nation. The Pack was 0-8 in ACC play under first-year NC State coach Herb Sendek. But, Sendek came away with the victory over his former mentor,
Rick Barnes, 58-54.
- Three-point shooting had been a statistic
in NC State’s favor in recent years, but Clemson
had the upper hand in that area last year. Clemson was 10-25 from long range in the win at Clemson in January, then made 9-20 in the win at NC State in February. NC State was 9-31 in the two games against Clemson last year. In the nine games previous to last year, NC State had outscored Clemson by 21 points per game on three-point shooting.
- Some active Tigers have shot well against NC State in their careers. Terrence Oglesby is 6-14 from long range, and K.C. Rivers
is 11-19,
- Three point shooting has been a factor in this series since Oliver Purnell became head coach. In 2003-04 the Pack made just 6-37 three-point shots against Oliver Purnell’s Tigers. The 31 misses stand as the most missed three-point attempts in a game by an opponent in the history of Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson upset the Pack in that game, 60-55.
Last Year vs. NC State
At Clemson, SC
Clemson 70, NC State 54
Cliff Hammonds led four Clemson double figure scorers with 14 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals and no turnovers in the Tigers 70-54 win over NC State on Jan. 15, 2008. It was the largest victory margin for Clemson against the Pack since the 1999-00 season.
Trevor Booker added 13 points and three blocked shots, while Terrence Oglesby scored 12 off the bench. K.C. Rivers had 11 points and three steals and James Mays added eight rebounds to lead the Tigers, who had a 23-point lead late in the second half.
Clemson forced 23 turnovers and had just 10 on offense in gaining the win. It led to a 29-3 lead in points off turnovers in Clemson’s favor. Clemson made 10-25 three-point goals compared to 5-12 for the Wolfpack. Clemson had been out-scored by 21 points per game over the last nine games against the Pack prior to this game.
Courtney Fells led NC State with 19 points, while Tracy Smith added 13. Smith had scored just 10 points all year entering the game. The Tigers had seven blocks and 13 steals to key the attack. The Tigers had a 32-24 lead at halftime and went on a 15-5 run to start the second half to put the game away. Clemson’s largest lead was 23 points at 61-38 with 5:26 left. The Tigers still led 70-50 with 1:52 left before the Wolfpack scored the last four points of the game.
Clemson 71, NC State 64
Feb. 16, 2008 at Raleigh, NC
K.C. Rivers scored 17 points, including 15 in the second half and five in the last three minutes to lead Clemson to a 71-64 victory at N.C State on Saturday, February 16. The victory gave the Tigers a 7-4 record in the
ACC and it was Clemson’s fourth win in the last five games.
The win gave Clemson a sweep of NC State, its first sweep of the Wolfpack since the 1999-00 season. The Tigers won the contest after having defeated Georgia Tech the previous Thursday evening. It marked the first time since 1986 that Clemson had won an ACC road game with just one day to prepare. Clemson had lost 13 games in a row in that situation.
Trevor Booker and Terrence Oglesby scored 11 points apiece for the Tigers, while Cliff Hammonds added nine points and Demontez Stitt scored eight. James Mays, playing in his home area for the last time in his career, scored seven points and added nine rebounds. Rivers led Clemson in rebounding with 10, giving him his fourth double-double of the season.
J.J. Hickson scored 13 points, but had 23 rebounds for NC State. The total was the most rebounds in ACC history by a freshman and it was the most rebounds in a game against Clemson since Tom Owens had 25 for South Carolina on Feb. 13, 1970. Gavin Grant led NC State with 19 points, while Courtney Fells had 17.
Clemson shot just 37 percent from the field, its low field goal percentage in a victory in an ACC game this year, but shot 45 percent (9-20) on three-point shots. Five different Tigers made a three-point goal. Despite Hickson’s heroics,
Clemson won the rebound margin 42-41. The Tigers committed just eight turnovers and forced 16. Clemson won the points off turnover statistic 15-8 and won the bench scoring 25-3.
Both teams struggled from the outset as the Tigers made just four of their first 22 shots from the field. NC State made five of its first six attempts when it took an 11-5 lead, but the Pack then missed its next 12 shots when Clemson held NC State without a field goal for over 10 minutes.
Clemson led 34-23 at halftime, the fourth straight game Clemson has held a double digit lead at intermission. But, NC State made 11 of its first 14 shots to start the second half and cut the lead to 45-44 with 13:57 left. They finally tied the game at 55 with 6:22 left on a pair of Gavin Grant free throws.
N.C. State took a 62-59 lead with 3:29 left on a three-point goal by Fells, his third long range shot of the game. But Rivers answered with a fall-away three from the right side with 2:51 left to tie the score at 62. With 2:35 left, Clemson captain Cliff Hammonds fouled out with the score tied at 62. It was just the third time in his career he had fouled out of a game, the second time against NC State.
NC State took a 64-62 lead on a pair of free throws by Grant, but then Oglesby hit a three pointer from the left wing to put Clemson up by one at 65-64 with 2:03 left. Mays then stole the ball on NC State’s next possession and Rivers hit another jumper to put Clemson up 67-64.
Clemson was up 69-64 with 24 seconds left when Hickson drove to the basket for a dunk that would have cut the margin to three points, but Sam Perry blocked the attempt. “That was the defensive player of the year,” said Clemson Head Coach Oliver Purnell after the game. Clemson made two more free throws down the stretch to gain the victory. The Tigers closed with a 12-2 run in claiming the seven-point win.
Clemson Perfect 14-0 vs. Non-Conference
Clemson finished its non-conference schedule with a 66-59 victory over Alabama on January 6. That gave Clemson a 14-0 mark in non-conference games. It is the second time in the last three years that Clemson had a perfect record in regular season games in non-conference
play. Two years ago, Clemson was 14-0 in the regular season against non-conference foes, then reached the finals of the NIT to close with an 18-1 record against non-league foes. The only loss was in the finals of the NIT against West Virginia (78-73).
This is the sixth time in history Clemson has run the table in non-conference games in the regular season. Clemson’s 1986-87 team was 15-0 in regular season non-conference games. The Tigers also accomplished the feat in 1992-93 (10-0), 1994-95 (10-0), 2003-03 (10-0) and 2006-07 (14-0).
Streaks and Milestones
- Trevor Booker has started 85 consecutive games. He has made 45 of his last 74 field goal attempts over seven games, a .608 figure. He has made three of his last six three point shots as well.
- Terrence Oglesby has made at least one three-point goal in 23 consecutive
games. He has scored in double figures in seven straight games and 13 of 15 this year. He has averaged 16.0 points per game over the last four games.
- David Potter has played in 85 consecutive games. He only played two minutes against Alabama due to a head injury.
- K.C Rivers needs 7 point to move past Tree Rollins into 10th place in scoring in Clemson history. Rivers has played in 117 consecutive games. Rivers has averaged 10.5 points per game over his last four games.
- Clemson reserve guard Andre Young has a 23/2 assist/turnover ratio in home games this year.
- Jerai Grant has made 31 of 39 field goals attempts for the year. He has made nine of his last 10 from the foul line.
Tigers Open Season 15-0
Clemson is off to a 15-0 start, the third best start in Clemson history
and the third longest winning streak in Clemson history. The record is 17-0 starts in 1986-87 and 2006-07. This is the fourth year in a row Clemson has won at least 10 games to open the season.
It is also the third best overall winning streak in Clemson history, trailing the 17-0 starts listed below. Clemson won 12 in a row during the 1996-97 season and that is the only overall winning streak that was not a season opening streak.
Clemson Best Starts to a Season
Year Start Final Post Season 1986-87 17-0 25-6 NCAA 2006-07 17-0 25-11 NCAA 2008-09 15-0 ?? ?? 1985-86 11-0 19-15 NIT 1995-96 11-0 18-11 NCAA 2005-06 11-0 19-13 NIT 2007-08 10-0 24-10 NCAA 1994-95 10-0 15-13 NIT
Clemson Home Winning Streak at 15
Clemson has won 15 consecutive home games, its longest home winning streak since winning a record 29 in a row from 1989-90. This is tied for the fourth longest home winning streak in Clemson history.
The Tigers have not lost at home since a 82-72 loss to Charlotte on January 9, 2008, so the program has gone over a year without a home loss. The streak includes seven straight ACC home wins and eight non-conference home wins. The last conference loss came to North Carolina in overtime last year, 90-88.
Clemson’s 15 game home winning streak is tied for the fifth best active streak in the nation.
Clemson’s Longest Home Winning Streaks
GP First Win Streak Breaker 29 Jan. 7, 1989, 75-58 vs. Maryland Dec. 15, 1990, 108-100 Charlotte 24 Feb. 21, 1979, 70-49, Duke Jan. 17, 1981, 68-62, Maryland 16 Jan. 30, 1985, 52-50, UNC Jan. 11, 1986, 83-81, Virginia 15 Jan. 12, 2008, 97-85, FSU Still active 15 Jan. 16, 1950, 85-59, Furman Dec. 6, 1953, 57-55, Georgia 14 Feb. 14, 2006, 89-77, Maryland Jan. 17, 2007, 77-55, UNC
National Best Active Home Winning Streak
GP School Next Home Game 44 Notre Dame Saturday vs. Seton Hall 33 Kansas Jan. 13 vs. Kansas State 24 Davidson Jan. 14 vs. Elon 17 Arkansas Jan. 10 vs. Mississippi State 15 Clemson Saturday vs. NC State 15 Lamar Saturday vs. SE Louisiana 15 LSU Jan. 14 vs. South Carolina 14 UCLA Jan. 15 vs. Arizona
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