March Madness: How to watch Clemson vs. Kansas

Clemson and Kansas will tip off in the 2018 NCAA basketball tournament at 7:07 p.m. Friday from the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Neb.

The Sweet 16 matchup will be shown on CBS and will be streamed on www.cbssports.com.

Jim Nantz is doing play-by-play, while Bill Raftery and Grant Hill will provide color commentary. Tracy Wolfson is the sideline reporter.

Crowd advantage

The Jayhawks are expected to have a noticeable home-court advantage Friday night against Clemson.

The University of Kansas is about a three-hour drive from Omaha, while Clemson, Duke and Syracuse are all more than 1,000 miles away.

Clemson coach Brad Brownell was asked if the tournament experience Kansas has gives the Jayhawks an advantage. Brownell believes Kansas has an edge more so because it will be playing so close to home.

“I think the bigger advantage is them playing with their fans … It's different,” Brownell said. “It was a true neutral court out in San Diego. New Mexico State had a nice following. Auburn and Clemson, we had good followings. But the bigger advantage, to me, is just playing in front of 12,000 of your fans. And I think that's a significant advantage.”

Kansas coach calls Clemson 'most impressive team' of NCAA Tournament opening weekend

Clemson earned a pair of double-digit wins in the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, beating New Mexico State 79-68 last Friday before destroying Auburn by 31 points to reach the Sweet 16.

Kansas coach Bill Self, whose top-seeded Jayhawks will face the fifth-seeded Tigers on Friday, watched Clemson’s first two games of the tournament closely and believes the Tigers are playing better than anyone entering the Sweet 16.

“They were probably the most impressive team, I felt like, in the first weekend,” Self said Thursday afternoon in Omaha. “Had a really nice win against New Mexico State, but against Auburn, that was a different level than probably anybody played at last weekend.”

Clemson used a balanced attack against Auburn with guards Gabe DeVoe, Marcquise Reed and Shelton Mitchell combining for 48 points, and big man Elijah Thomas adding 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The 84-53 victory was Clemson’s most lopsided win against a ranked team in program history.

“They have three terrific guards. They can go get their own shot. They play good off one another. So we just have to do a good job of containing those guards,” Kansas sophomore Malik Newman said. “And, I mean, they have a really good big in Elijah Thomas. He can block and score on the blocks. We just have to limit transition and keep those three guards contained.”

Azubuike healthy

Kansas center Udoka Azubuike was sidelined for the Big 12 Tournament with a knee injury but is ready to go against Clemson, according to Self.

The sophomore, who is averaging 13 points and seven rebounds per game, played only three minutes in the first round against Penn before scoring 10 points with seven rebounds in 22 minutes in the second round of the tourney against Seton Hall.

“Yeah, he's been fine. He's been fine,” Self said. “He practiced full speed Tuesday, Wednesday. Will practice today. And unless something unforeseen happens he'll be starting and be full speed tomorrow.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 7:01 PM with the headline "March Madness: How to watch Clemson vs. Kansas."