Clemson vs. McNeese in NCAA Tournament first round: How to watch, top storylines
March Madness has arrived. So has Clemson.
The Tigers men’s basketball team is a No. 5 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament and plays No. 12 McNeese State on Thursday afternoon in Providence, Rhode Island.
Clemson made a run to the Elite Eight last year and has already set a program record for single-season wins. Here’s what else to know ahead of the Tigers’ first game.
Clemson vs. McNeese, TV info
- Who: No. 5 Clemson (27-6) vs. No. 12 McNeese State (27-6)
- Where: Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, RI
- When: 3:15 p.m. Thursday
- TV: truTV
- Radio: 105.5 FM locally (see full list of affiliates here)
- Stream: Via trutv.com/watchtrutv
- Betting line: Clemson by 7.5 points (VegasInsider)
- Next up: The winner of Clemson-McNeese plays the winner of No. 4 Purdue vs. No. 13 High Point in a round of 32 game on Saturday (time/TV channel TBA).
A reality check for Clemson
A little adversity never hurts anybody — at least in their conference tournament.
That was the prevailing thought among Clemson players about the Tigers ending a historic regular season on a disappointing note – a 76-73 loss to Louisville in the ACC Tournament semifinals that knocked the team out of a top 4 NCAA seed. And the ACC championship game, which Clemson has never won.
Consider this, though: After losing a regular-season game at Louisville on Jan. 7, the Tigers won 14 of their next 15 games. They only played one ranked opponent during that stretch, No. 2 Duke, which they beat in memorable fashion. Clemson wound up winning 15 of its 18 regular-season ACC games by double digits, a school record.
What’s the harm in a reality check? After riding high for the better part of two months, Clemson certainly got that against the Cardinals, trailing by as many as 15 in the second half and looking all out of sorts in last Friday’s game. The Tigers ended up making a late run, going from down 11 with two minutes left to within two points.
“We were down a lot, still came back and were one possession away,” guard Chase Hunter said. “I think it just speaks to the mentality of the players and coaches ... No matter what happens, we’re always in the game.”
Obviously, that becomes magnified on the NCAA Tournament’s single-elimination stage. The Tigers handled a similar situation well last year, going from a blowout ACC Tournament second-round loss to Boston College to an Elite Eight run.
“We know what it takes to get back to that spot,” forward Ian Schieffelin said. “Taking it one game at a time. Can’t look past McNeese.”
Scouting McNeese State
Will Wade is a 2005 Clemson graduate and devoted Tigers football fan, to the point where he schedules his fall McNeese practices around Clemson’s games each Saturday. That gave him an easy analogy for handling his opponent’s physicality.
“Look, there’s a difference in the levels,” Wade said. “It’s like football, the difference between FCS. It’s on the line of scrimmage, right? With basketball, it’s the big guys. We’re a little smaller, quicker. We’ve got to try to play to our advantages.”
As for Clemson’s advantage?
“Pound the ball on the inside and annihilate us in the pain,” Wade said.
The numbers back it up. Clemson starts 6-foot-8 forward Schieffelin (12.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg) and 6-foot-11 center Viktor Lakhin (11.6 ppg, 6.3 rpg) down low. Starting forward Chauncey Wiggins is 6-10. The Tigers are 18-2 when they outscore their opponents in the paint this season.
McNeese, meanwhile, starts three guards and two forwards and does not have a traditional center. The tallest players in the Cowboys’ rotation are 6-8 and 6-9.
Basketball isn’t a height-only game. McNeese is 27-6 for a reason and can hang with anyone. At the same time, the team is 1-4 in Quad 1/Quad 2 games and its best win, by NCAA metrics, is a home win over North Texas of the American Athletic.
The Cowboys have dominated the Southland. What about a big, strong ACC team?
“It’s a lot easier said than done,” Wade said.
Clemson vs. McNeese game notes
This is the first ever meeting between Clemson and McNeese State, which is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana
Clemson is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last eight years and fifth overall under coach Brad Brownell (2011, 2018, 2021, 2024, 2025). The Tigers have won at least one game in three of their last four NCAA appearances
McNeese is making its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance and is 0-3 all-time
McNeese has never beaten an AP ranked team (0-34 all-time)
No. 12 seeds are 55-101 (.352) against No. 5 seeds since the NCAA Tournament expanded, but at least one No. 12 has upset a No. 5 in 33 of the last 39 tournaments
This story was originally published March 19, 2025 at 4:58 PM.
