Clemson vs UNC Game Preview – Players to Watch, Head to Head, and Prediction

The Clemson Tigers will lock horns with the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday at the Littlejohn Coliseum. With an 11-2 tally, the Clemson occupy the sixteenth spot in the AP Polls. The Tar Heels are ahead of the Clemson with a 10-3 record and are positioned at the eighth spot in the AP Polls.

The match is extremely anticipated by the fans since it will impact the AP rankings too apart from giving a clear picture about the ACC.

Players to Watch

One of the major players to watch is the Clemson Tigers’ center PJ Hall. Hall has been their go-to player in terms of points with an astounding average of 20.2 points per game. He has also been a formidable force in defense nabbing around 6.5 rebounds per match. The Clemson will rely on him a lot if they want to provide an upset in this game.

Other than Hall, another player to keep an eye on will be their forward Ian Schieffelin. Schieffelin leads the team’s leaderboard in terms of rebounds. He has nabbed an unbelievable 9.8 rebounds per contest. Thus, he can seriously dent the Tar Heels’ plans of scoring and will have to be looked at if the Tar Heels want to escape his impenetrable wall.

The North Carolina Tar Heels have found their alpha in the guard RJ Davis. Davis has besotted a team-high 21.1 points per game in the 13 outings he has had so far. He will look to create a lot of opportunities and trouble the Clemson with his offensive strategies. 

Another player who can dominate the Clemson is forward Armando Bacot. Bacot has been lethal this NCAA season averaging a double-double with 14.9 points per game and 10.8 rebounds per match. Bacot’s performance will make it clear if the North Carolina will be unopposed winners of the ACC or if they will have to face obstacles in their path.

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Head to Head

As per Sports Reference, the UNC have played 145 games against the Clemson Tigers, winning 123 and losing just 22. This is a show of the UNC’s dominance in the ACC. While the UNC have dropped an average of 80.6 points per match, the Tigers could only throttled an average of 68.1 points per contest. It will be a delight to watch if the Clemson can redeem themselves and edge past the UNC this time.

Prediction

The Clemson will have a home-court advantage and if they can utilize that then it will be really beneficial for them. Meanwhile, the UNC will try to deter blows to the Clemson through their offensive strategies and the Clemson won’t be far behind as they too have highlighted their attacking finesse in the previous games.

An edge-of-the-seat thriller can be expected in this match. Overall, the game can go in the UNC’s favor and notched up a mark in that already brilliant record.

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