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Preview: #8 Clemson vs. #9 Florida State

By BARRY JACOBS

Mar 8, 2007

Raleigh, N.C. — The tournament opener carries an air of desperation, as both Clemson and Florida State must win to keep alive their NCAA prospects. Of course, survival gains the victor a Friday meeting with top-seed North Carolina, which beat each the single time they played during the regular season. The prospect of a return engagement is not all that daunting. The Tar Heels have been erratic of late, and are vulnerable.

Past performance yields a slight edge to Clemson on Thursday -- FSU is the only ACC opponent swept home-and-home by the Tigers this season.

Few ACC teams ever get off to a better start than Clemson, which matched a school record by opening the season with 17 consecutive wins. And few teams crashed so dramatically, as the Tigers dropped nine of their next 11 games before ending the year with consecutive wins.

“It got a little tight there,” coach Oliver Purnell said in a bit of an understatement. Purnell saw the skid as comprised of discrete losing streaks – two games here, three games there, four games after that. “You’ve got to keep looking at it that way,” he said. “Look around the league. Everybody’s going through it.”

Perhaps, but not like Clemson. Keying the Tigers’ tailspin has been execrable foul shooting – at .585 the worst in the history of the conference. Over the past three years Purnell’s squads hit a cumulative 59.8 percent of their free throws, fecklessness that could well prove fatal against Florida State, the ACC’s best foul shooting team in 2007 (.767) and among the top 10 in conference history.

FSU possesses the league’s top scorer (20.1-point average) in explosive senior Al Thornton. The versatile forward dropped 45 points on Miami in an overtime win the other day, almost single-handedly keeping alive the NCAA hopes of a squad snubbed in 2006 despite a 9-7 ACC record. (Not since N.C. State’s Rodney Monroe scored 48 in 1991 has an ACC player produced more points in a game.)

Thornton insists he returned this year to take Florida State to the NCAAs after an eight-year absence. He did not count on the preseason loss of several big men, leaving FSU vulnerable inside, nor on a broken hand suffered by offensive-minded playmaker Toney Douglas (13.1 points) in a Feb. 7 defeat at Clemson.

Five straight losses followed Douglas’ injury. He returned for the win over Miami, giving FSU a needed boost as it makes its case for NCAA inclusion. Clemson likewise beat Miami, then edged Virginia Tech to end the regular season on a positive note.

The Tigers rely heavily on a pressing defense spearheaded by 6-9 junior James Mays, an under-appreciated defender, and the 3-point shooting of guard K.C. Rivers (.403), the team’s top scorer. Luck may also be turning toward the Tigers after all these years. Clemson, the only original conference member that’s has never won an ACC Tournament, beat the Hokies by a point at Blacksburg despite 9-for-19 free throw shooting.

Next up for the winner is North Carolina, plagued lately by -- take your pick -- wavering concentration or lack of toughness, cohesiveness, defense, confidence. Getting up for an opponent like Duke is neither a problem nor a solution; playing with passion every game is a particular challenge for UNC.

“For us to lose five conference games is kind of shocking to me,” Tar Heel sophomore Danny Green said.

Green cited a number of factors, including the young team’s predictable tendency to “fall back on the talent.”

“Everybody expects us to win. We expect to win,” he said. “We figure we have so much talent, we can beat anybody.”

Forging a team is another matter. Quietly, coach Roy Williams has pared his playing rotation a bit in conference play. Eight players get 13 or more minutes per game, about the same as Maryland.

Freshmen Brandan Wright and Ty Lawson continue to emerge as front-rank performers. Inconsistent Reyshawn Terry is trying to shoulder a senior’s leadership role. Wings Green and Wayne Ellington are threats inside and out. Marcus Ginyard, a strong defender of similar size, is making better decisions and enough points to stay on the court. When Duke closed within 56-53 with 11:50 remaining on Sunday, Ginyard’s 3-pointer doubled the Heels’ margin as they pulled away.

Central to UNC’s success stands Hansbrough, a bullish big man who shouldn’t miss any playing time due to the broken nose incurred against Duke. Hansbrough, the top Tar Heel in scoring (18.8) and rebounding (8.0), is such a difficult matchup other teams leave themselves vulnerable in order to stop him.

Even with the attention, Hansbrough operates so well inside, and gets to the foul line so often as a result, he will finish among the ACC’s all-time leaders in free throw attempts in a season (259 and counting).