UNC-Clemson Preview: Perfect Home Record at Stake on Senior Night

No. 17 North Carolina (23-6, 11-5 ACC) vs. Clemson (21-8, 11-5 ACC)
Chapel Hill, N.C. — Smith Center
Tuesday, March 3 — 7:00 p.m. 
ESPN (Kevin Brown and Jay Williams)

Quotables 
“(Clemson) has a huge emphasis on scoring points in the paint through post and penetration. They do a great job of utilizing their bigs around the basket to be able to score.” — Hubert Davis during his ACC availability Monday morning 

“There’s not a lot different in how they play and what they’re trying to do (without Caleb Wilson). They’re still very talented, doing a great job, and have had some good wins without him already.” — Brad Brownell during his ACC availability Monday morning

Pregame Notes

Veesaar’s Big Second Half Helps Tar Heels Past Hokies: North Carolina outlasted a lingering Virginia Tech team to win 89-82 on Saturday night at the Smith Center. 

Henri Veesaar tied his career-high with 26 points —18 coming in the second half — to help the Tar Heels build a double-figure lead and pull away late in the game. UNC shot 60.9 percent (14-for-23) from the field in the second half, the third game in a row where North Carolina has shot over 60 percent in one half. 

What’s On the Line: UNC is 17-0 at the Smith Center this season, which ties a single-season record for home wins in a season, and the 17-game home win streak is its longest since 2017.

Clemson and UNC are tied in the ACC standings at 11-5, with Tuesday’s contest potentially the determining factor of which team gets the No. 4 seed and the last double-bye in the ACC Tournament. Looking beyond that, the Tar Heels are projected as a No. 5 NCAA Tournament seed per Bracket Matrix.

UNC will honor Seth Trimble and Elijah Davis as part of Senior Night. The pregame ceremony starts at 6:40 p.m., and the two seniors will address the crowd after the game. 

Looking at Clemson: After starting conference play 10-1, the Tigers struggled through the second half of February, losing four of their last five games and plummeting from second to fifth in the ACC standings. 

Clemson went 10-3 during non-conference play, with Quad 1 wins over Georgia (97-94 in overtime) and Cincinnati (68-65), but losses to No. 12 Alabama (90-84), No. 10 BYU (67-64), and a Quad 2 defeat to Georgetown on the road, 79-74.  

To start league play, the Tigers won their first six games, including a Q1 victory at Miami. However, their first loss came in an 80-76 overtime defeat at N.C. State before later losing four straight to Virginia Tech, No. 4 Duke and Wake Forest, and a harrowing Quad 3 loss to Florida State, 70-65, at home. Clemson got back on track this past Saturday, however, defeating No. 24 Louisville (80-75) at home. 

The Tigers are led by head coach Brad Brownwell, who is in his 16th season at the helm. Brownwell is 313-204 all-time at Clemson and has led the Tigers to two NCAA Tournament appearances in the last three seasons, and five times since his first season in 2010-11.

Sound Defense Anchors Tigers, Lack of Go-To Scorer their Weakpoint: As the 29th-oldest team in the country in Division 1 experience this season, Clemson plays an under-control, defensive-reliant brand of basketball.

Defense is by far the strong suit of this Tigers team, as they allow the second fewest points per game in the ACC (65.9) and have the 18th-best defensive efficiency in the nation per KenPom. Clemson also keeps teams off the offensive glass, limiting opposing offenses to second-chance opportunities 25.2 percent of the time, a rate that is second only to Duke in conference play and 12th nationally.

Though UNC’s offense has been extremely efficient as of late — shooting 53.7 percent over the last three games —the Tigers may present a challenge in continuing that trend. Clemson holds opponents to 41.4 percent from the floor and 31.3 percent from 3-point range. 

Offensively, the Tigers are much less impressive. They score the fifth fewest points in the ACC at 74.7 points per game, but have only scored 68.4 over their last five outings. 

This is largely due to their slow style of play (with a tempo ranked 17th in the ACC and 335th nationally) that often controls the flow of the game from the defensive end and helps Clemson play almost entirely in the half-court. As Davis continues to harp on being the fastest team from free-throw line to free-throw line, Tuesday’s contest will be even more important to do so, so as not to let the Tigers dictate the speed of the game. 

Individually, Clemson seems to also lack an offensive player who can take over a game. RJ Godfrey, the Tigers’ leading scorer at 11.2 points per game, has not scored over 20 points per game this season and has only eclipsed 16 points in two outings this season. 

Furthermore, only twice this season has Clemson had a player score 20 points or more in a game, with Jestin Porter scoring 26 points against Boston College and Nick Davidson in the following game with 25 off the bench against Notre Dame. Needless to say, if the Tigers defeat North Carolina, it will more likely be through balanced scoring than a one-man show. 

Series History: North Carolina is 136-25 all-time against Clemson, including 60-2 in Chapel Hill and 29-2 in the Smith Center. However, the Tigers have won the last two meetings, with an 85-65 victory over the Tar Heels at home last season. 

UNC was previously 59-0 against Clemson at home, but the Tigers have won two of the last three games in the Smith Center, in 2020 and 2024. 

Projected UNC Starters: 
3 Derek Dixon (Fr., 6-5, 200) — 5.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.2 apg
7 Seth Trimble (Sr., 6-3, 200) — 14.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.5 apg
44 Luka Bogavac (Jr., 6-6, 215) — 9.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.2 apg
15 Jarin Stevenson (Jr., 6-10, 215) — 7.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 29.7% 3pt
13 Henri Veesaar (Jr., 7-0, 225) — 16.7 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 41.8% 3pt

Top Tar Heel Reserves: 
0 Kyan Evans (Jr., 6-2, 175) — 4.5 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 2.8 apg
1 Zayden High (So., 6-10, 230) — 3.4 ppg, 2.8 rpg
4 Jaydon Young (Jr., 6-4, 200) — 2.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
11 Jonathan Powell (So., 6-6, 190) — 5.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 39.1% 3pt

Projected Clemson Starters:
2 Dillon Hunter (Sr., 6-3, 192) — 7.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 36.1% 3pt
1 Jestin Porter (Sr., 6-1, 180) — 9.9 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.4 apg
4 Butta Johnson (Sr., 6-4, 180) — 5.6 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 83.3 % FT
0 RJ Godfrey (Sr., 6-7, 240) — 11.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 62.6% FG
22 Carter Welling (Jr., 6-10, 240) — 10.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg

Top Tiger Reserves:
21 Ace Buckner (Fr., 6-3, 180) — 8.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.7 apg
11 Nick Davidson (Sr., 6-10, 235) — 9 ppg, 3.9 rpg
10 Jake Wahlin (Jr., 6-10, 210) — 6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 37.2% 3pt

UNC Info:
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats

Clemson Info:
Schedule/Results
Roster & Bios
Stats