Texas Southern @ Clemson preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 19, 2015 ) Texas Southern 56, Clemson 76

Clemson plays its sixth consecutive game in the state of South Carolina to open the season when it hosts Texas Southern on Friday in a battle of Tigers. Clemson is coming off its first loss of the season, 67-60 to Temple in the Charleston Classic championship game Sunday, and will try to revert back to the team that averaged 11.3 turnovers in its first four games rather than the one that committed 18 versus the Owls.

“We just got a little careless, a little excited and sped up,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell told reporters after Sunday's game that also included a 7-for-26 performance from 3-point range, dropping its season average to 33.7. Clemson also needs junior forward Elijah Thomas (10.4 points, 7.8 rebounds per game) to return to the form that netted him personal bests of 17 points and 15 rebounds in an 81-76 victory over Ohio in the first round of the Charleston Classic. Thomas totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds in the two games since his career night. Texas Southern begins the season with 13 road games and has lost its first five, including 114-71 to No. 2 Kansas on Tuesday and 97-69 to No. 17 Gonzaga in the opener.

TV: 3 p.m. ET, ACC Network Extra

ABOUT TEXAS SOUTHERN (0-5): Sophomore guard Demontrae Jefferson returned from a two-game suspension and scored 24 points versus Kansas, raising his average to 22. Jefferson is shooting 48.1 percent from 3-point range -- the rest of the team shoots 30.7 percent, but the 5-foot-7 waterbug hits on only 35.7 percent from inside the arc. Junior center Trayvon Reed averages 12.6 points and 10.2 rebounds after collecting 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks Tuesday for his second double-double of the season.

ABOUT CLEMSON (4-1): Senior forward Donte Grantham leads a balanced scoring attack with a team-high 17.2 points per game, reaching double figures in every game this season. He also averages 6.4 rebounds -- second to Thomas -- and is shooting 70.2 percent from the field and is 10-for-20 from 3-point range, leaving the rest of the team at 29.8 percent from beyond the arc. Junior guards Marcquise Reed (13.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists) and Shelton Mitchell (12.2 points, team-high 5.0 assists) also average double figures in scoring.

TIP-INS

1. Reed (923 career points) and Grantham (917) are trying to become the 39th and 40th players in school history to reach 1,000 points.

2. Clemson is shooting 78.4 percent from the free throw line, which was 30th nationally through Tuesday's games.

3. This marks the third straight season the Tigers play their entire nonconference season on the road.

PREDICTION: Clemson 80, Texas Southern 58