Lynchburg, VA (My Sportsbook) - The 22nd-ranked Clemson Tigers embark on their first road test of the season, as they invade the Vines Center in Lynchburg today for a rare morning showdown with the Liberty Flames.
The Tigers and Flames are meeting for the fifth time, with Clemson claiming victory in each of the previous four matchups. Last season, Clemson came from behind to post an 80-75 victory at home over Liberty. This game is part of the "College Hoops Tipoff Marathon."
There is a lot of excitement on the Clemson campus this year, as the Tigers are viewed as one of the real contenders for this year's ACC crown. Oliver Purnell's team did little to dispel the hype with a season-opening 84-41 rout of Presbyterian last Friday.
The Dale Layer era at Liberty got off on the wrong foot with a season-opening loss at George Mason (76-72) on Friday, but the team got in the win column the very next night, making light work of Southern Virginia in Lynchburg, 89-53.
The Tigers are a dangerous team at both ends of the floor and flashed their long distance acumen in the win over the Blue Hose, hitting 14 three-pointers in the rout. Clemson also forced Presbyterian into 27 turnovers and turned 19 steals into 43 points. Four players finished in double figures, while the Tigers held a +14 edge in rebounding. Tanner Smith led the way with 14 points, on 6-of-9 shooting. Freshman Noel Johnson added 12 points in his debut, while Trevor Booker and Bryan Narcisse chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Booker is the key to Clemson's success this season and is one of the top big men in the ACC. He struggled a bit against the Blue Hose however, converting just 3-of-9 attempts from the floor, while grabbing eight rebounds.
Liberty is not the same team that entered Littlejohn Coliseum last year and almost pulled off a huge upset. Head coach Ritchie McCay is gone, as is Big South Freshman of the Year Seth Curry, who has transferred to Duke. To make matters worse, last year's second-leading scorer Anthony Smith (17.6 ppg) is also gone. Kyle Ohman is now the leader of this squad and will try everything he can to elevate his game after averaging nearly 14 points per game last year. Early indications are he will do just that, after opening the season with 23 points and seven rebounds against George Mason and following that up with 15 points against Southern Virginia. Also lending a hand against Southern Virginia were Chris Perez (14 pts), Tyler Baker (13 pts) and Evan Gordon (11 pts). The Flames shot the ball extremely well in the victory (.529) and held a huge advantage on the boards (51-33).
