Morehead St. @ Clemson preview

Morehead St. at Clemson

Clemson hosts Morehead State on Monday in a matinee matchup with the prospects of an eight-day break looming before the Tigers go full throttle into ACC play next week.

The No. 24 Tigers (5-1, 0-1 ACC) haven't lost in nonconference play but dropped their lone ACC game at Virginia Tech (66-60).

Morehead State is off to a 4-5 start and is a 23.5-point underdog at Littlejohn Coliseum on Monday.

It's all about the Ds for the Tigers. Depth and defense are the themes for this team. Head coach Brad Brownell is looking for a little more of something else: grit.

After the loss in Blacksburg, which came at the end of a seven-day stretch with three games, Brownell challenged Clemson.

"We were a little soft," he said. "They were a little hungrier than we were. In a game that's evenly matched, that's the difference."

Morehead State has been led by standout freshman forward Johni Broome. He's averaging 11.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game on a team with seven players averaging at least 6.7 points.

Clemson is willing to play that game. The Tigers' bench has produced 25-plus points in five of the first six games. Clemson has had 14 different players score this season with six averaging 5.0 points or more per game.

Defense could turn into the calling card of Clemson's team. The Tigers rank No. 2 in adjusted defensive efficiency (86.1), seventh in

scoring defense (53.8 points per game) and 17th in field goal percentage defense (35.8 percent). All three national marks rank Clemson first in the ACC.

January will be a different story with six conference road games. Brownell is 85-94 in regular-season ACC games.

Clemson plans to shift that narrative.

"We don't have guys that can get 25 points a game. We win with effort and hopefully our depth wears people down," Brownell said. "Man I'm excited about our team though. We are 5-1."

--Field Level Media