Clemson basketball vs. Arizona in NCAA Sweet 16: How to watch, top storylines
Big city. Bigger stakes.
After winning two NCAA Tournament games in three days as an underdog in Memphis, the Clemson men’s basketball team is in Los Angeles and set to play in only the fifth Sweet 16 game in program history Thursday night against Arizona (7:09 p.m., CBS).
Here’s what you need to know as the Tigers continue a memorable March Madness run and try to advance to their second ever Elite Eight round and first in 44 years.
Clemson MBB vs. Arizona game info
- Who: No. 6 seed Clemson (23-11) vs. No. 2 seed Arizona (27-8)
- Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
- When: 7:09 p.m. Thursday
- TV: CBS
- Radio: 105.5 FM locally (see full list of affiliates here)
- Stream: Via CBS.com
- Betting line: Arizona by 6.5 points (VegasInsider)
- Next up: The winner of Clemson-Arizona will play either No. 1 UNC or No. 4 Alabama in the West Regional final (Elite Eight) on Saturday. The UNC-Alabama game is scheduled to tip off Thursday night in Los Angeles roughly 20 minutes after the end of the Clemson-Arizona game.
Tigers ‘optimistic’ after quick turnaround
After beating No. 3 seed Baylor on Sunday night, Clemson flew home and got back to campus around 3:30 a.m. But with a Thursday game looming, they couldn’t exactly hang around.
A mere 12 hours after getting home, the Tigers were back on a bus to the Greenville airport and getting on a cross-country flight to Los Angeles.
Coach Brad Brownell couldn’t help but laugh a little as he ran through Clemson’s travel itinerary during his Wednesday news conference in LA, describing it as “less than ideal.”
“I’m optimistic we’ll be ready to go tomorrow,” he said. “But it’s been a quick turnaround, that’s for sure. A lot of sleepless nights for the staff trying to get ready.”
Not that Brownell or any of his players are complaining. Flying across the United States on short notice and adjusting to a three-hour time change is life in the NCAA Tournament. It’s definitely life in the NCAA Tournament as a lower seed; had Clemson finished the regular season stronger, it could’ve found itself in a more geographically friendly region.
And Clemson’s fared pretty well in these setups so far. After beating No. 11 New Mexico and No. 3 Baylor on a neutral court without trailing in either contest, what’s another non-conference win against a talented opponent in an unfamiliar venue?
“Coming into the tournament, we had a pretty quiet confidence about ourselves,” center PJ Hall said Wednesday. “We were the underdog (against New Mexico). It was kind of a slap in the face. So, you go into that having a quiet confidence and a chip on your shoulder. knowing we can come in here and make some noise has been our attitude.”
Scouting Arizona
If you’re an ACC basketball fan, you’ll immediately recognize one of Arizona’s starters. Caleb Love was an up-and-down player at UNC, but when he was on, all he did was lead the Tar Heels to a national championship game and hit the most iconic shot in UNC-Duke rivalry history.
And Love has fit right in after transferring to Arizona last year.
The reigning Pac 12 Player of the Year, he averages a team-high 18.1 points per game and has hit 92 3-pointers at a 34.3% rate. In the Wildcats’ two NCAA Tournament wins in Salt Lake City last weekend, he averaged 18.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game.
Other top contributors for Arizona, which is making a second Sweet 16 appearance in three seasons under coach Tommy Lloyd: first team all-conference big man Oumar Ballo (7-foot, 260 pounds), sophomore point guard Kylan Boswell (2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio) and versatile wing Pelle Larsson (14.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game last weekend).
Lloyd said he loves the poise of an Arizona team that was the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament and has won its first two games by 30 points.
“You can have an idea,” Lloyd said. “And I trust our poise, I trust our belief and confidence. But that doesn’t mean that it’s always going to show up in the moments you need it to. That’s what makes these games such a spectacle.”
Clemson vs. Arizona game notes
A win over No. 2 seed Arizona would resemble the highest seeded team Clemson has beaten in the NCAA Tournament. Last week, in defeating No. 3 Baylor, Clemson scored its first win over a top three seed since 1980.
In Clemson’s first two NCAA games, its opponents (New Mexico and Baylor) shot a paltry 9 of 47, or 19.1%, on 3-pointers against the Tigers.
This is the third meeting between Clemson and Arizona (Arizona leads 3-0), and second NCAA Tournament meeting (Arizona won in the 1989 second round).
Arizona’s Lloyd has won 82.1% of his games at the school and, at 88 wins, is one shy of the NCAA record for wins by a first-time coach in his first three seasons.
The Wildcats are one of only two teams (Gonzaga) nationally with three individual players with 120 or more assists this season.
This story was originally published March 28, 2024 at 7:04 AM.
