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Florida St. Seminoles (17-6, 5-4) vs. Clemson Tigers (16-7, 4-5)
When: 7PM, ESPN2
Top scorers: FSU — F Chris Singleton (10.8 ppg., 7.5 rpg.), C Solomon Alabi (12.7 ppg., 7 rpg.), G Michael Snaer (8.6 ppg., 2.7 rpg.). Singleton and Alabi rank 2nd and 5th in the ACC in blocked shots.
The Seminoles have won three straight against Clemson, which I would say was due to their interior play, although the Tigers have won seven of the past eight at home in the series. FSU is 4-4 over its past eight games yet sports the league's best defense, holding opponents to 36.8% shooting. Clemson is right behind them. FSU outrebounds Clemson overall and forces more blocks than CU.
Both teams shoot about the same and both of us suck at the FT line and from the arc percentagewise. They are not very different in that neither team has had consistent play offensively.
Clemson forces more turnovers and steals, while FSU has a nasty problem of turning the ball over (17.1pg), though they did ok against Miami and Maryland recently (11 and 14 respectively). Their turnover bug plays directly into the Tigers' advantage. With Stitt now back, we should be able to press FSU and force them to turn the ball over. At home, with Jerai Grant off consecutive double-doubles and Booker over the flu, we should be able to hold fairly even in rebounding as well. However, counting on Booker to be able to dominate inside against 7'1" Alabi and Reid is too much. Alabi has been a little quiet in his last two games, Booker his last 3, and neither of them is exceptional at handling the ball.
Travis Sawchik believes the game is a must-win, and I agree with him. If the offense can't muster something new soon then we may be NIT-bound. At this point, I think I'd take 7-9 to finish. We have a 3 game homestand and we need to win every one of these games badly.
Purnell hopes the team plays with the defensive energy it did in its home win against Maryland. But Clemson shot 31.9 percent form the floor in that game, which Purnell acknowledges is not a sustainable formula for victory.
The Tigers are running out of time to fix their offense.
In the period of three weeks, the Clemson has gone from entertaining thoughts of contending for an ACC crown to hoping it can hang on for a third consecutive NCAA bid.
The Tigers open a three-game homestand tonight, and they acknowledge they are nearing must-win territory. Following the homestand, Clemson has three difficult road trips remaining: Maryland, Florida State and Wake.
From the ACC, only Maryland made the NCAA tournament last season with a losing conference mark. The Tigers hope to avoid being in the similar position of having to sweat out a bid.
He gives information on Demontez Stitt:
Making matters worse is point guard and second-leading scorer Demontez Stitt is still not 100 percent.
Purnell believes Stitt was shaking off some rust during a three-point, 1-of-6 shooting effort against Virginia Tech in his return from a mid-foot sprain.
But Stitt said Tuesday he is not getting the "lift" he normally does, and he can't cut as sharply as he would at full health.
The junior said he will have to alter his offensive game: more jump shots, fewer drives.
Purnell hopes the team plays with the defensive energy it did in its home win against Maryland. But Clemson shot 31.9 percent form the floor in that game, which Purnell acknowledges is not a sustainable formula for victory.